PPL Montana introduced today the members of a statewide advisory board that will help the company award $200,000 this year to projects that will improve the quality of education, enhance the environment and spur economic development in Montana.
“As a major corporation with 500 employees in Montana, we are committed to working with Montana communities to improve the quality of life for today and tomorrow,” said Brad Spencer, vice president and chief operating officer of PPL Montana. “The PPL Montana Community Fund, under the direction of this statewide advisory board, will play a key role in helping us accomplish that goal.”
In late December, PPL Montana announced the creation of the PPL Montana Community Fund. “The 18 community and business leaders and PPL Montana employees who have agreed to volunteer their time will provide us with valuable insight that will help us determine how best to distribute these community grants,” Spencer said.
The grants will be distributed in two cycles — spring and fall. The company received 103 grant applications for the spring cycle before the Feb. 28 deadline and expects to notify grant recipients during the second week of May.
At the news conference in Billings, Spencer introduced Lisa Perry, the company’s new manager of community affairs who is responsible for overseeing the company’s community relations activities, including managing the PPL Montana Community Fund and the company’s United Way campaign.
“These Community Fund advisory board members represent various segments of community and business throughout the state,” Perry said. “We will count on them to help us identify the most urgent educational, environmental and economic development needs in the state so we can work with communities to address them.”
PPL Montana received a large number of volunteers to participate on the board and solicited others to make sure the group is representative of the state as whole.
Representing the community:
· Liz Harris, executive director of Jobs Now!, Kalispell.
· Great Falls Mayor Randy Gray.
· Past Lieutenant Governor Karl Ohs, Helena.
· Debbie Donovan, Montana State University extension agent, Glasgow.
· Senator John Bruggeman, Polson.
· Steve Decker, director of Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Missoula.
Representing business:
· Cindy Andrus, Bozeman Convention and Visitors Bureau, Bozeman.
· Carl Kochman, owner of Carl Kochman Advertising, Helena.
· Lori Walker, sales manager of the Holiday Inn, Billings.
· Jim Day, a commercial lender at Western Security Bank, Billings.
· Michael Morrison, vice president of Davidson Company, Great Falls.
· Scott Brown, manager of Advanced Silicon Materials, Butte.
Representing PPL Montana employees:
· Gale Palmer, Colstrip plant, Colstrip.
· Sherry Tizono, Corette plant, Billings.
· Rodney Caldwell, hydro operations, Great Falls.
· Frank Pickett, hydro offices, Butte.
· Cindy Sanders, PPL Montana headquarters, Billings.
· Rose Spear, PPL EnergyPlus operations, Butte.
For more information about the fund or to apply, visit the new PPL Montana Web site at www.pplmontana.com.
PPL Montana operates 11 hydroelectric power plants along the Missouri, Madison, Clark Fork and Flathead rivers and Rosebud Creek, as well as two coal-fired plants at Colstrip and Billings, that give it a combined generating capacity of more than 1,200 megawatts. The company has 500 employees at facilities throughout the state with offices in Billings, Butte and Helena.