50 Years of Bob McDuffie

He retired in January after 17 years as CEO for Edgecombe-Martin County EMC. But from 1961 to 1996 he worked with Randolph EMC in Asheboro, including as manager of engineering (pointing in photo with Ralph Williams), retiring as CEO.

After 35 years working in the electric cooperative business, Bob McDuffie retired. A few months later, he was back working in the business, and he stayed another 17 years. Do you think Bob McDuffie likes this kind of work?

"Next to the military," he said, "electric cooperatives are about the best program that serves this country."

Ever since cooperatives formed to supply power to rural communities when no one else would do the job, McDuffie believes, they have remained focused on members, treating everyone equally and improving their quality of life. When he moved on in January to pursue such interests as land development, chasing wildlife and grandchildren, the always affable, always straightforward Bob McDuffie said he'll miss influencing change in the industry, "but I'll be watching from the sideline."

As a 20-year-old with a degree from Randolph Technical College, he got a job in April 1961 paying 90 cents an hour on the Randolph EMC line crew in Asheboro. Three of his cousins and an uncle worked there at the time. "Back then, we didn't know what nepotism was. Couldn't spell it. Still can't spell it." Alton Wall, a legend among co-ops, was general manager. When he heard that young McDuffie had some ideas, he confronted him: "So you don't like the way I'm runnin' this train?" After some talk, Bob came right out with it: "The only job here I'm interested in is yours." By 1977 he had that job, after serving as manager of engineering.

Early on at Randolph EMC, McDuffie demonstrated his skills as a manager, earning respect and trust from employees, even to the point where a labor union dissolved itself. He was a manager who went out with his crews to rebuild after storms, including to several southern states where co-ops had been devastated. He was a manager who emphasized employee education and subsidized it. He was a "Boss of the Year" in Randolph County.

Among his achievements was representing for 10 years North Carolina's cooperatives on the National Rural Electric Cooperative Assn. (NRECA) board. He chaired two national committees, including a major one that streamlined what had become a labyrinth of regulations at the co-ops' major lender at the time, the Rural Electrification Administration. Mike Ganley of NRECA worked many hours on that with McDuffie, "a no-nonsense guy who knew what we had to do and got it done," he remembered. "It's amazing what can get done when you don't care about who gets the credit."

About a year after he retired from Randolph EMC in 1996, the general manager at Pantego-based Tideland EMC died suddenly, and the Tideland board asked McDuffie to run the co-op and help find a successor. Not long after that, the Edgecombe-Martin County EMC board asked him to do the same for that co-op, and he did. In 2002, after the co-op restored its Tarboro headquarters that flooded in 1999 during Hurricane Floyd, the CEO job came open again. McDuffie agreed to serve again as interim CEO. He stayed 12 years.

"This is the easiest job in the world," he said wryly, "if you don't try to make it hard. And if you know what you're doing, have confidence in your people, let them do their work, and have the guts to deal with it if they don't."

A devoted outdoorsman, McDuffie at a staff meeting one day wondered why the opossum survives so well in the EMC-EMC service territory. He asked staff to study the matter and report back. Months later, he expressed disappointment that he never got the report. Eddie Stocks, longtime staffer and now a vice president, went to work on it with some associates. The 15-page "Opossum Report" holds a revered place in the co-op's archives.

Edgecombe-Martin County EMC employees have the co-op running in fine form, their boss said. "They can put it on cruise control."

Board president Millie Lilley has an idea of why that is. "Bob has very high expectations of people," she said. "He's pleased when things run well, and he says so to employees. Everyone wants to work for him, and they respect him." She added that the co-op will remain in competent hands with recently named CEO Winston Howell, a staff member for more than 10 years. "Winston has had the benefit of learning from Bob," she said.