GAS — Heartland Rural Electric Cooperative, Inc. introduced itself to the Gas community Friday with a ribbon-cutting and open house to celebrate the opening of its new offices and warehouse.
The 7,350 square-foot facility will serve as one of Heartland’s three main hubs.
Heartland deals almost exclusively with rural customers in 11 counties. Its electric lines cover more than 3,750 miles and connect to 11,500 meters, said Paul Norris, director of operations.
“We’re very excited to be a part of the community,” Norris said.
Having the center in Gas will accommodate Heartland’s crews as they are dispatched throughout the region.
“Being along U.S. 54 is a plus because we can get what we need and get on our way quickly,” Norris said.
The Gas facility will feature a single office worker, and a group of three or more linemen, said Ron Graber, Heartland’s communications officer.
The number of linemen will vary when needs dictate, Graber said.
“We’ll probably bring in some summer help,” he said.
The facility also features offices for HD Supply, which provides a complete line of construction and industrial products dealing with electric distribution.
“It’s a great fit,” Graber said. “They deal with us and we deal exclusively with them.”
CONSTRUCTION began in late winter on the Gas building on what previously had been designated by the county as a site for its new ambulance station.
County commissioners later decided to locate in an existing facility and came calling on Heartland, which until this month had called property on North State Street in Iola its home.
Norris noted that much of the ground work and the gravel bed to house the building’s foundation already had been completed.
“All we had to do was some scraping and we were ready to take off,” he said.
Rainy weather through late winter and into spring slowed construction, “but things went smoothly overall,” Norris said.
As an electric cooperative, Heartland’s customers also serve as its owners. They handle such things as select Heartland’s board of directors and collect whatever profits the company earns.
“Our profits don’t go to private shareholders,” Norris said. “Our profits go to our members.”
Heartland is based out of Girard and also has a facility in Mound City. The Gas workers will service much of the northwestern tier of Heartland’s service area. Heartland’s area ranges from Osawatomie to Chetopa and Fort Scott to west of Iola.
Attending Friday’s ribbon-cutting were members of the Iola Area Chamber of Commerce, Gas city employees and 39 Heartland employees. The Heartland crews also used the occasion for a regularly scheduled meeting.
