By Sarah LaBrasca
The late Steve Jobs once said, "Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work." Few people embody that sentiment more fully than Lakeview Light & Power's Tony Rusin.
As LLP's longest-ever tenured employee—47 & 1/2 years and counting—Tony is preparing for a well-earned retirement in August.
His can-do attitude, incomparable institutional knowledge and commitment to the cooperative have earned him a reputation that will stay with him long after his time at Lakeview Light & Power.
Tony's journey began far from Lakeview. At 18 years old and just a week after his high school graduation, he left his hometown of Mundelein, Illinois, for boot camp, enlisting in the United States Air Force.
During his 5 & 1/2 years of military service, Tony worked as a lineworker before being honorably discharged and joining Lakeview Light & Power as a second-year line apprentice.
After earning his journey-level lineworker certification, Tony spent several years working in the field. He expanded his expertise and earned two additional journeyman certifications as a wireman and meterman.
Combined with his extensive knowledge of personal computing and networking, those skills led him to the role of IT/network technician, the position from which he'll retire.
Over his years with Lakeview, Tony has helped bring countless ideas and projects to life, many of which remain critical parts of the utility's operations today. As a wireman, he single-handedly completed the wiring of Lakeview Light & Power's third and fourth substation builds, Tyee and Lake Grove, in 1982 and 1984. These substations are still active, with Lake Grove undergoing its rebuild this year after a strong 42 years of operation.
Tony spent multiple months in the late 1980s building the cooperative's mapping system, taking it from paper maps to digitized vector data that could be edited, measured and integrated into digital projects. These maps became reusable datasets for utility line and pole projects and information.
Among his notable accomplishments, additionally, was designing and building LLP's supervisory control and data acquisition system from the ground up between May 2004 and September 2005, completing the project in just 17 months. The system enables utility operators to remotely monitor, control and collect data from substation equipment, providing critical visibility into the electric system.
Building a utility-grade SCADA system was no small feat, particularly in 2004. Unlike today's technology landscape, Tony wasn't working with cloud-based platforms, modern web-development tools of inexpensive high-performance servers. Many communications interfaces required specialized hardware and custom drivers, and reliability was of utmost importance. Beyond simply creating a functioning system, he had to ensure the system operated accurately and continuously, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The impact of that work can still be seen throughout Lakeview's operations today.
Tony credits much of his success to both his passion for the utility industry and his strong commitment to Lakeview Light & Power.
"Working here, I got to wear many hats, and I tried to learn as much as I could," he says.
Sean Morey, who has been involved in Tony's succession planning, says Tony has been a great mentor.
"He has definitely put his mark on this company," Sean says. "Having taken on so many different hats in his career here at Lakeview, he has always been available to investigate new issues and help to resolve them. I was always wondering how his neck held all those hats up."
When asked how he hopes to be remembered, Tony points to his work ethic and dedication to the cooperative—qualities proven by nearly five decades of service.
Chief Financial Officer Derise Warner, who's worked with Tony for the past 18 years, says his dedication has been unmatched.
"Even when things were chaotic and his own plate was full, Tony never hesitated to stop and help each one of us," she says.
As he prepares for the next chapter, Tony admits he isn't entirely sure what retirement will bring, though he knows he'll miss the people who made his career so rewarding.
"The last couple of years, especially, I've gotten to work with somet really great people," he says.
Looking ahead, Tony is eager to focus on the parts of life work often puts on hold.
He plans to travel out of state, spend more time pursuing personal interests and, as he puts it, simply "keep busy."
While retirement marks the end of an extraordinary career, Tony's legacy of service, innovation and dedication will remain woven into the fabric of Lakeview Light & Power for years to come.