Grady Smith, who signed on at Cullman EC, Cullman, AL, 45 years ago and has been its general manager since 1997, has announced his intention to retire.
In a posting on the cooperative’s website, Smith wrote that he plans to retire no later than August 2018. He wrote that Cullman EC’s Board of Trustees will begin the process of identifying his successor after the holidays.
A Cullman native, Smith joined the cooperative as a ground man in 1972. He worked as an apprentice lineman, journeyman lineman, service man, staking technician associate engineer and superintendent of operations before leaving in 1985.
Smith spent the next several years at Choctawhatchee EC in Florida before returning to Alabama, where he took over as general manager at Cherokee EC, Centre, AL. In December 1997, he returned to Cullman EC as its chief executive.