A New Chapter in a Family Tradition at the Co-op: Nate Grace’s Story

PLYMOUTH – As a third-generation member of the Grace family to work at the Co-op, Nate Grace has the electric utility living in his DNA.

His family legacy began with his grandfather Donald Grace who, in 1989, retired as the overhead line crew foreman after 38 years at the Co-op. Nate’s dad, Tim Grace, began working at the Co-op in 2016, having started in the Warehouse before transferring and becoming a Meter Technician.

“It’s pretty cool,” said Nate, who is a line designer in the Plymouth district. “I really would just like to stay here for the remainder of my working career. I think that’s a lot of what employees at the Co-op look for.”

Having studied mechanical and aeronautical engineering, and graduated college to be an aircraft mechanic, Nate also had worked as an auto mechanic prior to joining the Co-op. When an opening in line design opened up, he packed up his knowledge, creativity and problem-solving skills and signed on.

“I’ve always liked working in design and doing field work and using some of that creativity to solve a problem. Line design kind of drew me towards that because that’s what we do every day –work to help people get power and solve some of the issues of design and constraints with different projects,” he said.

Three years later, he hasn’t looked back.

Nate has a lot of respect for the Co-op employees who have made careers here and that he has had the good fortune to learn from, informing his design work and his overall knowledge about the utility’s operation.

“You get a lot of experience with that,” he said, referring to long-term careers. “And you get a lot of knowledge with that, which you can’t get with only being here for five years.”

When he is not at work, Nate, who is president of the local snowmobile club and grooms trails for them, also appreciates family time and enjoying experiences like snowmobiling, camping, hunting, fishing and riding the four-wheeler.

“The whole family is very active and we have a lot of family time, which is how it’s always been for me and how I want my kids to grow up – a lot of family time doing things and having those experiences,” said Nate, whose two-year-old son will be a big brother when Nate and his wife welcome their second child at the end of summer.

At the Co-op, Nate works with members daily on projects as they are trying to connect to the grid for new construction, be it residential or a commercial property – maybe a hotel, industrial business or a seasonal camp.

“My territory has a little bit of everything,” he said. His work spans Campton and Thornton, to Monroe, Lisbon and Easton, and west toward Haverhill and New Hampshire’s border with Vermont.

A recent morning brought him to Lincoln for a residential site visit and Woodstock, where he met with an electrician on a project involving a former masonic lodge, which is being converted into rooms where seasonal or temporary workers can stay.

“The best skill you can have for line design is to be good with people and then creativity is a pretty big one. While we have our specs that we have to design to and our standards that we have to meet, you still have to solve those problems and figure out a solution to a bunch of different constraints,” he said. “It’s not just ours that we have to meet, we also have to work with the members’ constraints on their design for their house or their development.

“I really like being able to see a project from start to finish,” Nate said. “It’s rewarding to actually physically see something, show somebody something and say, ‘I helped with that project’.”