Stephanie Green, 34
Account Manager
Border States Electric
Stephanie’s career in electrical distribution began in 2007 when she joined Western Extralite’s lighting quotations department as a project manager/quotations specialist.
“I worked at a local hardware store during high school and college,” Stephanie recalled. “One of our supervisors used to work in the electrical industry and when he left the hardware store to come work for Western Extralite he offered me a position. I was getting extremely bored with college and really had no idea where I wanted to be or what I wanted to do, so I jumped at the chance to get some experience in a real industry. I never expected to get sucked in!”
Shortly after the company was acquired by Border States Electric in 2014, Stephanie became the management trainee for the South Central Region. Upon completion of the two-year program, she relocated to Amarillo, Texas, to become the operations supervisor. In late 2019 she moved to her current position in Missoula, Mont. “There’s so much more to this industry than people think,” she noted. “It may not be what most people think of as a glamorous industry, but it’s definitely essential and opportunities abound.”
Stephanie views large-scale e-commerce as one of the industry’s biggest challenges. “Customers go online to check pricing from Lowe’s or Home Depot and expect to come to our counter and demand the same price—refusing to recognize the value of getting items they need right away, as opposed to having to wait for it to ship,” she explained. “They expect the lowest price and they expect the material right away. Technology can be a wonderful thing, but it is making customers more focused solely on price at the expense of the services that differentiate us from the competition.”
Currently, Stephanie is looking to start her MBA and plans to continue moving forward with Border States Electric. “I believe that furthering my formal education will make my experience more well-rounded and make myself a solid asset,” she said.
When she’s not working, Stephanie can be found outside, taking advantage of the Montana landscape, and inside, e-learning. “Hiking is definitely a must,” she said. “I also love reading, road trips, and learning new things. I got so bored during the COVID lockdown that I took a class on Dinosaur Biology and signed up for lessons in German!”
Each year tED magazine recognizes 30 of the industry’s best and brightest under the age of 35. Please visit tedmag.com/30Under35 for nomination information and updates about the 2021 program. Questions can be sent to tED Editor Misty Byers at mbyers@naed.org.
Tagged with 2020 30 Under 35, 30 under 35