DENISE VIDAL

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT & CEO, LEE COUNTY ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE, NORTH FORT MYERS

Vidal was appointed to lead the not-for-profit Lee County Electric Cooperative in 2019 and steered the organization’s recovery efforts in 2022 after Hurricane Ian devastated much of Southwest Florida. She describes an all-hands-on-deck approach to restoring power to more than 240,000 customers, even though nearly a third of her employees’ homes suffered from the resulting flooding. Despite trying circumstances, there were no significant safety incidents tied to the recovery effort. “It was really incredible given the widespread devastation,” she told an interviewer. The cooperative, with 430 employees, was named Large Business of the Year in February by the Cape Coral Chamber of Commerce. Before becoming the Lee County Electric Cooperative CEO, Vidal spent 16 years at the utility in leadership positions in marketing, customer service and finance and accounting.

WHAT I’VE LEARNED
“Do the hard stuff. Do the job nobody wants to do, and do it better than anyone else.”