Jim Wunderlin adroitly handles growing gas network

Pipeline & Gas Journal,  Nov, 2006  

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Jim Wunderlin, vice president/engineering, for Southwest Gas Corporation, was honored earlier this year by the American Gas Association with its Silver Award of Merit. The industry veteran works at one of the more challenging utilities in the United States, where more than 26,000 miles of distribution mains are spread over a vast territory in Nevada, Arizona and California to serve more than 1.7 million customers in Nevada, Arizona and California in some of the country's fastest-growing communities.

Last year, the Las Vegas-based company added an unprecedented 100,000 customers, including nearly 19,000 in the South Lake Tahoe area, marking the second consecutive year it added 80,000 customers through organic growth. Needless to say, a company must have excellent operating practices to add so many customers while keeping the existing ones happy. Yet the company still enjoys one of the top productivity ratios in the industry with a customer-to-employee ratio of 661 to 1.

That Southwest Gas continues to do so speaks volumes about its engineering maven. Fortunately for P&GJ, the personable, articulate Wisconsin native was able to spare a few minutes to talk about his job.

P&GJ: What is your job today?

Wunderlin: As vice president/engineering for Southwest Gas, I have broad responsibilities for the engineering staff functions and corporate administrative services. I report to Jim Kane, the president of Southwest Gas Corporation, and am fortunate to have a great staff support team that consists of four directors and an administrative assistant. Those functional responsibilities include Code Compliance, Operational Training, Engineering and Technical Services policy, Material Selection, Right of Way, Laboratory Services, Security, Transmission and Distribution Integrity, Environmental Compliance, Systems Planning, Electronic and Records Mapping System, Operational Quality Assurance, Project Support, Fleet Management, Diversity Services, Travel Services, Administrative Services, Records Management and Central Graphics.

P&GJ: What is your company's biggest challenge today?

Wunderlin: Keeping pace with extraordinary customer growth has been our biggest challenge over the past several years. To meet this challenge, we have been able to improve the productivity of our employees each year primarily through the use of advanced technology. The implementation of a Work Management System and start to work from home programs, along with computers in company vehicles, are a few of these improvements.

P&GJ: What were your interests as a young person, and did you always intend to go into management?

Wunderlin: I was born in Platteville, WI and raised on a small dairy farm in the southwestern part of the state. We were a very close family (something like John Boy and the Waltons) which included five siblings (three brothers and two sisters). When we finished our farm chores, we played backyard softball and football. During the summer when the barn hayloft was empty, we used it to play basketball.

We shared the farm work, rode the school bus to grade school and high school, and participated in the typical activities of farm kids such as the 4-H Club (which included the 4-H float in the Platteville Dairy Day Parade). During high school, I was on the golf team and was starting fullback on the varsity football team.

My adviser suggested I take agriculture classes to prepare for a farm career after high school. He looked surprised when I told him I wanted to be an engineer instead. My parents always said if I wanted to be a farmer that was OK, but if I got an education I would have choices. Consequently, I attended the local college--the University of Wisconsin--Platteville and graduated with a BS in Civil Engineering.

After graduation, I joined Wisconsin Gas Company in Milwaukee as a beginning engineer. Twenty years later I was the company's chief engineer having completed my master's degree in engineering. I also obtained my Professional Engineer Certification and completed the University of Michigan's Public Utility Executive Program. I was ripe for picking when I was contacted by a recruiter. In spring 1991, I joined Southwest Gas as Director/Engineering Staff. Four years later I became Vice President/Engineering.

P&GJ: Who do you hold up as your strongest role model?

Wunderlin: My father was the strongest influence in my life. He was an honest, hard-working man with high moral values, a strong dependable character and a charitable heart. He set a very positive example for my siblings and I, while instilling in each of us the importance of a strong work ethic, respect for individuals and the importance of education.

P&GJ: Which of your accomplishments do you find most satisfying? What were your thoughts when you were honored by the American Gas Association in May 2006 with the Silver Award of Merit?

Wunderlin: First, let me say that receiving the AGA Silver Award of Merit was a great honor. It reflects on our company's commitment to working with AGA and the rest of the industry as advocates for improved safety, reasonable regulations and new operational best practices. Being involved in the process and speaking as one industry voice is extremely important.