John Marsh and Josh Bain

In early 2020, lineman Josh Bain stepped away from his career at Tideland to help wife, Hope, with the expansion of her rapidly growing nutrition business. They also expanded their family with the birth of their second child, Brody. In the interim, Josh couldn’t quite get Tideland out of his system. Utility posts often showed up on his social media.

Several months after Josh’s departure, senior staking technician John Marsh advised the co-op that he would retire the following year. That provided a pathway for Josh to return to Tideland, putting his years of experience and system knowledge to good use as John’s replacement. This provided invaluable continuity to our engineering operations in the co-op’s largest and fastest growing district.

Having made the transition from lineman to staking technician himself, John can attest to the advantage Josh has having performed the actual linework that stakers map out. During his tenure, John says the greatest workplace improvement has been the tagging and toning of underground facilities which have vastly improved safety and operational efficiencies. The co-op also undertook a massive mapping project that returned all assemblies to Rural Utilities Services standards which in turn streamlined inventory.

As a small utility, Tideland stakers wear many hats and are often the first co-op employee members engage with in person. We have no doubt that John has left this important job in good hands as he passes the baton to Josh.