Page 6 - Tennessee 811 Magazine 2022 Issue 3

Stansell Electric Company, Inc.
By Jason Fryer,
Damage Prevention Liaison Tennessee811
For this Quarter’s Damage Prevention MVP, I am featuring Stansell Electric Company,
Inc. Their headquarters is in Nashville, Tennessee and they also have an office in Knoxville. I interviewed two of their employees, Dave Brown, who
is their Injury Free Director, and Greg Fisher, their Utility Locator. Dave has been with Stansell Electric for 4 years and Greg has been with the company 2 years. The nomination for this article comes from Jimmy Moshier with Metro Water Services in Nashville. Jimmy’s official job title is Utility Compliance Inspector II, but the title other constituents know him by is Damage Investigation and Prevention Inspector. Jimmy has been with Metro Water for
8 years.
Utility Perspective
Jimmy had several good things to say about Stansell Electric. He told me, “Stansell uses good processes for safe digging. They have a tolerance
zone process where they use brightly colored yardsticks painted up in orange and white. That way their driller can see the yardstick to set poles. It’s a 5-foot yardstick, they
set down outside the markings. The yardstick is one of the ways they can get out of the safety tolerance zone. When they are in close quarters, they use hydro vacuum excavation.” Jimmy also told me that Stansell Electric
is good about communicating and setting up on-site meetings with the different utility operators if there is any infrastructure they are unsure about. At these onsite meetings, they will discuss Stansell’s scope of work and their needs to accomplish their job safely and efficiently to stay away from the underground utilities. Along with working safely, Jimmy mentioned that Stansell has an excellent work culture. “Every Stansell Electric employee
I’ve talked to really enjoys working there. They enjoy what they do. They are told here is your job and they are
allowed to do their job. It doesn’t seem they are micromanaged. They have
a good environment where they can move up within the company and grow. I’ve never been around any of their employees that say anything bad about their company.”
History of Stansell Electric
Dave and Greg gave me a brief
history of Stansell Electric. They were founded in 1940 by Jimmy Stansell Senior working out of a garage and
in the back of his truck. Mr. Stansell was trying to make a living after the Great Depression. Dave told me, “Our founder’s bib overalls and his hat are upstairs in our board room. A rich tradition honoring the family, a very family-oriented company. Some people have been here a long time.” Stansell Electric has spanned three generations and now has over 320 employees within their two locations. Stansell works
in both Middle and East Tennessee
and are looking to expand to West Tennessee. When talking about the
4 • Tennessee811 2022, Issue 3