I am a co-editor for Front Lines, an internal newsletter distributed to more than 900 employees.

1. super
service
Golfers Compete for the Cause
The 14th Annual Benefit Golf Tournament
had 76 golfers hit the links to raise more
than $6,900 for our adopt-a-school Williams
Elementary.
“We had a great turnout this year and raised
much needed funds,” said Yvette Carter,
community relations coordinator and
tournament planner. “Since inception, the
tournament has allowed GRU to contribute
more than $144,000 to Williams.”
The funds raised this year will be used to
provide field trips, school supplies, uniforms
and personal assistance to those students in
need.
Cynthia Brockington,
Customer Service
A customer called to thank
Cynthia for her speedy and
helpful assistance.
FRONTLINES
News, trends and tips for GRU employees and their families
September 2013
ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY
John Carter’s Todd Sumner, Southwire’s Matt Street,
Shands’ Chris Dorval (JoAnn Dorval’s husband) and Jim
Frampton look like they had a great time!
Paynes Prairie Groundbreaking a Success
On May 8, GRU and the City invited public officials,
environmental groups, and representatives from the Florida
Department of Environmental Protection and regional water
management districts to celebrate the groundbreaking of the
Paynes Prairie Sheetflow project.
“We are honored to be able to assist in
providing resource to make things better for
the children in our community,” Carter said.
Speakers included former Mayor Craig Lowe, U.S. Senator Rob
Bradley, Florida Department of Environmental Protection
Secretary Herschel Vinyard Jr., Executive Director of the
Suwannee River Water Management District Dr. Ann Shortelle,
State Representative Keith Perry and St. Johns River Water
Management District Director of the Division of Operations and
Land Resources Robert Christianson.
Guests toured the sheetflow site where construction is
progressing on schedule. Project partners served as tour
guides, explaining how it will accomplish both the
recycling of highly treated reclaimed water and the
reestablishment the natural sheetflow of water onto the prairie.
Lamar Crosby & Rob Duff,
Field Services
A customer sent a letter to Lamar
and Rob’s supervisor commending
them for a thorough gas-leak-repair
job. He said he appreciated their
competence.
Brett Goodman, Herb Firsching, JJ
Purpura and Tony Cunningham struck a
pose before the tournament began.
“Our founding fathers always talked about posterity and the
future generations,” Perry said. “What you are doing today
with this project is for future generations.”
FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY
Help Locate Surplus Items
GRU Purchasing established a contract with Public Surplus
that allows GRU to sell surplus items through the website
PublicSurplus.com. The site is an online government auction
system where public agencies can auction off surplus
materials to the general public.
Help us recognize employees
who have shown Super Service
by nominating a coworker! Email
frontlines@gru.com or call ext. 1490
with your nomination.
Representative Perry touched on the uniquness of our
community.
Jim Severance and Lewis Walton receivied
their free golf umbrellas for registering.
GRU employees can join the effort to locate and sell surplus
materials ranging from office equipment to old generators.
Jamie Dayhaw,
Facilities Maintenance
When a security issue arose in the
cashier area, Jamie quickly and
efficiently fixed the problem. Great
TSE!
A Jones Edmunds engineer explains the benefits of the project to a guest.
Engineering Sales’ Patrick Campbell with Hamid
Rezaei, Elizabeth Mattke and Eaton’s Rick Chapple
made a great team!
Glenda Russell, Gabrielle Burch, Yvette Carter, Dorothy
Greene, Nicole Youssef and Kaitlin Gwynn all volunteered
to help make the tournament a success!
approval from the Investment Recovery Committee. The
item can then be auctioned off on the Public Surplus
website. For more information contact Alex Corvetto, the
account coordinator, at ext. 1209 or CorvettoEA@gru.com.
Joann Dorval, utilities purchasing manager, said that the
website allows departments to sell surplus materials at no
cost to GRU.
“We are all looking for ways to keep our rates down.
In addition to reducing expenses, we can also help
generate a little extra revenue by selling items no longer
needed,” Dorval said.
Publisher: Amelia Bell, APR
Editors: Kaitlin Gwynn and Samantha Susock
Circulation: JoAnn Hutcherson
Profits from the surplus materials go into GRU’s general
fund. Departments desiring to sell materials must get
The Reel-o-Matic, a cable reel winding machine, is an example of an
item GRU recently sold with Public Surplus.

2. FRONTLINES
September 2013
COMMUNITY RELATIONS
Two Deserving Students Receive Scholarships from GRU
On May 19, GRU awarded two deserving high school seniors
with scholarships to pursue degrees in engineering at the
University of Florida or Santa Fe College. The scholarships
were funded by GRU’s Brighter Tomorrow Scholarship
Program, which has helped financially disadvantaged
students in the Gainesville area since 2009.
Dr. Simon Otis Johnson Sr. and Verna Jackson Johnson,
co-founders of the Caring and Sharing Learning Charter
School, also received the Legacy Award for their long-term
investments in the community.
Route Sequencing Team Solves Long-Standing
Problem
When Janelle Alexander joined GRU as an IT
analyst in late 2008, she was tasked with
making meter reading routes more efficient.
Four-and-a-half years later, the Route
Sequencing team has rolled out a solution that
improves efficiency and saves money.
This year’s event featured “CSI: NY” star, best-selling author
and philanthropist Hill Harper as keynote speaker. Harper
delivered an inspirational 45-minute speech about the
importance of having a firm foundation to achieve your
dreams.
Each recipient earned $4,000 toward their
education. The University of Florida’s College of
Engineering also received $4,000 to give an incoming,
deserving student.
TOTAL SERVICE EXCELLENCE
Left to right: Community & Government Relations Director Nona Jones, recipient
Stephen Diuguid, actor Hill Harper, recipient Kyle Smyre, General Manager Bob Hunzinger,
and Infinite Energy CEO, Darin Cook.
Meter readers are required to read or attempt
to read each customer’s meter every month.
This requires extensive scheduling and routing
procedures. Alexander said developing the
appropriate modifications to the system was
difficult because of the complex nature of
route sequencing and optimization.
In February 2012, a Route Sequencing Team
was created to tackle the long-standing
problem. The team included representatives
from both IT and the utility field service meter
reading departments. They were: Alexander,
Tracey Wynn, Patty Baham, Larry Williams,
Kenneth Lazzaro, Ken Wilder and Billy Gault.
The team developed a reporting mechanism
that could identify certain scenarios that
previously caused sequencing efforts to fail.
Once the scenarios were identified, the team
added code enhancements to the existing SAP
system. This accommodated exceptions and
processed information more accurately.
Left to right: Community Relations Intern Gabrielle Burch, Verna Jackson
Johnson and Dr. Simon Otis Johnson Sr.
Left to right: Interim Marketing and Communications Manager Magi Crawford,
Marketing and Communications Specialist, Senior Amelia Bell, actor Hill Harper,
Community Relations Coordinator Yvette Carter, Community Relations Executive
Assistant Glenda Russell, and Intern Gabrielle Burch.
“We improved efficiency by reducing meter
reader and customer time as well as increased
safety because training will be performed more
effectively,” Alexander said. “By resolving this
situation in-house, we also have the potential
to accomplish route optimization, which could
result in over $100,000 in savings of funds that
would otherwise have gone to a third-party
vendor for an additional software solution to
meet this need,” she said.
Thor Wishart, utility field services manager,
said the team was awarded with clocks to
reflect the time they saved with labor
efficiencies.
Hill Harper shares a laugh with Bob Hunzinger.
One of last year’s winners, Roshawn Brown, talked about his life since receiving
the scholarship.
The Route Sequencing Team (left to right):
Patty Baham, Tracey Wynn, Billy Gault, Ken Wilder, Janelle
Alexander and Larry Williams (Not pictured: Kenneth Lazzaro).
“The team demonstrated extraordinary
resilience and determination by prevailing over
an elusive conundrum in regard to the SAP
programming,” Wishart said. “It impacts meter
route sequencing greatly.”
The new program has been in place since
February 2013. Alexander said the team has
closely monitored the system, and there have
been no reported failures.
“When you get to dig into a problem, you learn
so much,” Alexander said. “I can apply a great
deal of the problem solving skills to other
areas of my job. It’s truly been an invaluable
experience.”