Cullman Electric Cooperative CEO Grady Smith is joined by his wife, Cherrie Ann, from left, and his daughters Amy and Bekkah in front of the newly christened Grady Smith Community Room at the Co-Op.

The Cullman Electric Cooperative honored its outgoing president and CEO with a retirement ceremony Tuesday afternoon, and showed their appreciation for his work by naming one of its rooms after him. 

Grady Smith, who worked as a groundman, lineman and engineer for the Co-Op from 1972-1985, and returned to serve as president and CEO from 1997-2018, will be retiring at the end of the month. Tim Culpepper, who currently serves as the Co-Op’s general counsel, will be taking over for Smith on June 1.

Co-Op Board of Trustees Vice-Chairman James Fields introduced Smith at the ceremony, and spoke about the work that he has done in his time as Co-Op president and CEO.

Anyone who has worked with Smith knows that he is passionate about the Co-Op and the role that it plays in improving the quality of life for all of its members, he said. 

“The future of the Co-Op is brighter, the hope of the Co-Op is brighter, and it’s because of his leadership,” Fields said. 

To recognize Smith’s impact on the Co-Op and its members, the Co-Op board renamed the facility’s training room after Smith, and presented a framed picture and biography of Smith that will be installed outside the room.

Smith thanked all of the people who he worked with during both of his tenures at the Cullman Electric Co-Op, along with all of the other people who have helped him along the way.

“I can’t say thank you enough to all the people here who have supported me in so many different ways,” he said. “We’ve done a lot of things, we’ve accomplished a lot, and we’ve still got a long way to go,” he said. 

To close his remarks, Smith encouraged the Co-Op’s board members and employees to blaze their own trail and not worry about what he would have thought about a decision or would have done in a particular situation. 

“I encourage you to be different, do things, get outside the box,” he said. “And there’s people here who can do that. There’s people here who are smart enough and have a vision wide enough to keep things going as they are.”