Thurgood was hired in November 2023 as a Meter Technician and runs the co-op’s meter shop. He oversees the accuracy and communications testing that ensures that meter readings are correct. Fun Fact: “I’m a huge fan of ’80s music. When I’m trying to recall when something happened back then, I just think of what songs were playing, and I can tell you what year it was.”

Moving from Charlotte to take this job was coming full circle for you?

I grew up in this area, Cedar Grove mostly, and moved to Charlotte after graduating from NC Central University. I have tons of family here, and always knew I would come back, probably to retire. I was doing contract work for a company, and out of the blue they asked me if I wanted to do a job for BEMC. I said yes, and the rest is history. It’s very meaningful for me because my dad, Thurgood Sr., is getting older. I have four acres near him and will build a house there.

It’s full circle because when I was young, he took care of and taught me, and now I get to help him. I’ve been so used to city life, but my fiancée, Vanesha, is from Belize, and loves rural life, so she was thrilled to move here. Now we have 20 goats, some chickens and a big garden on our land. We have so much fun together, we love to do karaoke, and travel, and just enjoy life!

And it’s so good to be around my family. My dad had seven siblings, so I have more than 30 first cousins. We’re very close-knit, and have reunions several times per year, and birthday parties, cookouts, and other celebrations all the time.

What else do you like to do in your downtime?

I’m a big Panther’s fan and have a man cave with Panther’s stuff everywhere. I’m a season ticket holder and got a touchdown football from Cam Newton during a game in Jacksonville! We were on the sidelines, and he just came over and gave it to me! And I’ve met many of them, including Chris McCaffrey, Julius Peppers and Luke Kuechly.

I love team sports – and I like the team atmosphere at BEMC. We all have a job to do yet work together. In football, the goal is to score a touchdown. Satisfying the members is our touchdown, and I like to think we score touchdowns every day.