In 2018, high school junior Greg Jekel applied to participate in the Indiana Electric Cooperatives Youth Tour to Washington, D.C., and received the approval of his co-op, Clark County REMC, to join the 100-member Hoosier delegation that June.

It wasn’t the last time Jekel would complete a successful IEC application. During his senior year, he inked a form for another youth program, Page Day, at the Indiana Statehouse and was rewarded with an inside look at state government.

But Jekel wasn’t finished. Four years later, mindful of his looming May 2023 graduation from Purdue University, he began contemplating career options and again felt drawn to IEC. “I liked the idea of a not-for-profit power company, and I liked the idea of working in the community I grew up in,” said the Floyds Knobs, Indiana, native. So he dug through old emails until he found one from Ann Mears, IEC careers and youth partnerships director.

“She was the one managing Youth Tour, and I knew she also headed up their recruitment efforts,” Jekel said. “I emailed her, and she told me about some employment opportunities.”

By the end of his graduation month, he had applied for and gained a new title — system planning engineer at Hoosier Energy in Bloomington. Though it wasn’t in the community he grew up in, the atmosphere feels homey enough to Jekel — both in and out of the office.

“Everyone is willing to trust you with responsibility,” he said of his coworkers, “and teach you everything you could ask.” Jekel is especially impressed by his co-op’s willingness to fill job openings with existing employees, citing an instance when “four people got promoted at once.”

Jekel said his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering has helped him understand the technical aspects of the job, whose duties include analyzing whether the power demands of a new neighborhood, manufacturer, or other client will overtax the current system. “We have to figure out what should be built to allow them to put that power on the grid without damaging the existing system,” he said. “Is our substation suitable for that load, or are we going to have to upgrade our substation?”

“It’s very interesting to be in this job at this time,” Jekel said in what sounded like an understatement. He relishes the fact that his cutting-edge co-op career began with a high school trip to the nation’s capital: “I’m the poster child for Youth Tour.”

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