"I saw the position advertised in the paper and it was a perfect blend of my previous experience; half in the banking industry, specifically in lending, and half as an office manager," says Misty.
Misty saw that ad 15 years ago and has been EWEB's loan administrator ever since. Over the years, Misty has had opportunity to collaborate with departments across the utility to create numerous loan programs for our customers.
She laughs as she recalls working on a team years ago that was evaluating whether ductless heat pumps would take off, which now make up the majority of EWEB's loans. In 2012, when EWEB decided to decommission the steam plant after years of steady decline in customers, Misty helped create a loan program to assist customers in switching to a new heating fuel source. And most recently, after the devastating snow storm in March, she helped with EWEB's newest loan program to help finance backup generators.
The snow storm knocked power out for thousands of EWEB customers, some of whom were without power for over a week as the utility worked to restore power in the rubble of fallen trees, broken poles and downed wires. With a number of multi-day outage events caused by extreme weather in recent years, EWEB wanted to help customers increase their safety and resilience in a power outage.
Within 48 hours of the initial concept, EWEB was prepared to rollout a program to assist customers with the purchase and installation of a backup generator and transfer switch to safely power critical components in a home during an emergency.
"Customers want to make this type of preparation. But so often, how you want to spend money and how you have to don't line up. It's easy for something like a backup generator to fall to the back burner when you have more pressing needs as a homeowner," says Misty. "I love that we run our loan programs in-house. It keeps it personal and intentional," she continues.
When thanked for her willingness to be featured in an online profile, Misty brushes it off and turns right back to customers. "I thought it might be another way to keep getting the word out that we offer a lot of different loans. I want people to know that we care and we provide programs to help out."
If a customer who works with Misty is in doubt that we have employees who care deeply about EWEB's role in the community, she will surely works wonders in erasing that doubt. It only takes a few minutes to realize she is passionate about helping our customers and that she loves her job.
Thank you Misty, for your role in providing customers with vital services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
4200 Roosevelt Blvd.
Eugene, OR 97402
800-841-5871
541-685-7000
Open Monday-Friday
Phone hours: 9 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.
