Lynn Farnen retires from a career of opportunity

Farnen started as a receptionist at Thomas Hill in 1979. When a new position opened, she became an administrative clerk and joined a group of three who were hard at work in the office during Unit 3 construction. At the time, she worked on company payroll and processes and she grew and changed along with the cooperative.

Thanks to AECI’s education benefit and Farnen’s desire to expand her knowledge, she started pursuing her degree in the late ’90s, earning a bachelor’s degree in management in 2000. She supported the plant manager and assistant plant manager 25 years, gaining exposure to a variety of human resources and safety issues that inspired her to broaden her horizons.

In 2002, Lynn moved to AECI’s Springfield, Mo., Headquarters as a human resources generalist where she fine-tuned her benefits administration and general human resources skills. She worked short-term assignments at New Madrid Power Plant and Thomas Hill before returning to Headquarters once again. She earned a master’s degree in human resources management in 2009, and in December 2012 she became human resources manager at Thomas Hill Energy Center.

The cooperative business model appealed to Farnen. “It’s so different than any other business. We really are working to produce the lowest-cost product.”

Over the years, Farnen witnessed many plant changes and was instrumental in recruiting new employees and working to trim the costs of outages to ensure reliability for members.

During her career, she received three Excel awards: Innovative Action team award in 2000, Employee of the Year in an Administrative Field in 1998, and AECI’s Distinguished Service Award in 2014 to mark her years of sustained contributions to the cooperative. Her Innovative Action award was for a creative approach to equal employment opportunity training.

Farnen lives in Salisbury with her husband. She enjoys reading and gardening and visiting wineries with her husband. She plans to pursue hobbies she hasn't had time for in the past. She's looking forward to gardening, photography, winemaking, travel and most importantly, she said, spending time with her husband, kids and grandchildren.

Associated Electric Cooperative Inc. is owned by and provides wholesale power to six regional and 51 local electric cooperative systems in Missouri, southeast Iowa and northeast Oklahoma that serve more than 875,000 customers. Associated Electric’s mission is to provide an economical and reliable power supply and support services to its members, including the “Take Control & Save” energy efficiency program, www.TakeControlAndSave.coop. Associated Electric is a Touchstone Energy Cooperative.

An Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/D/V