GRDA Power For Progress – Lending a hand and supporting the mission in summer

GRDA Power For Progress

Every summer they arrive at Grand River Dam Authority facilities, from several different backgrounds and several different hometowns. Some are familiar faces, some are brand new but all become part of Team GRDA, at least for a few months. They mow the grass, they paint the walls, they scan the documents, they patrol the waters and they lend a hand in many other ways.

Of course, we are talking about the Grand River Dam Authority’s summer employees. Comprised mostly of students who will be back in the classroom by late August, this special workforce plays an important role at GRDA during what can be a very busy time of the year. With multiple facilities, crews, departments and responsibilities spread across a wide area of Oklahoma, GRDA depends on the many contributions of its summertime team members.

Meanwhile, those employees benefit from the arrangement as well. It is obviously a chance to earn a summer paycheck, but it can also be valuable work experience and the chance to get an up close look at the many careers and tasks within GRDA. For some, it’s even a chance for a sneak peak at the very career they may be considering for the future. For others, who are actually filling summer intern positions, it’s the chance to get both college credit and experience.

Finally, the impact of GRDA’s summer employees also stretches into the surrounding communities. Like the permanent workforce of 500 dollars (accounting for an annual payroll of approximately $34 million), summer employees earn important wages that are circulated throughout the state’s economy, in the communities where they live work and play.

So, whether the focus is on the job, the dollars or the work experience, Team GRDA’s summer force helps to further the Authority’s mission to “provide low-cost, reliable electric power and related services to our customers and to be responsive to the interests and concerns of public power users, the communities we affect, and the people of the state of Oklahoma.”

Headquartered in Vinita, GRDA is Oklahoma’s state-owned electric utility; fully funded by revenues from electric and water sales instead of taxes. GRDA’s low-cost, reliable power touches 75 of 77 counties in the state. At no cost to Oklahoma taxpayers, GRDA also manages 70,000 surface acres of lakes in the state, including Grand Lake, Lake Hudson and the W.R. Holway Reservoir. Today, GRDA’s 500 employees continue to produce the same “power for progress” that has benefited the state for 75 years.

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