LOEMC Named Wheeler County Business of the Year

The Wheeler County Chamber of Commerce showed their appreciation for the Little Ocmulgee EMC’s work to restore power to the area after the devastation of Hurricane Helene, as Little Ocmulgee EMC was announced as the 2025 Wheeler County Business of the Year at the Chamber’s annual banquet on Friday, May 9.

When Hurricane Helene swept through the South last September, this area was devastated by an unprecedented amount of damage, from which the area is still working to recover. Immediately after the storm, Wheeler County – like many of the surrounding counties – was literally left in the dark without power and phone communication.

“But as we struggled to recover, there were heroes in our midst who were working hard to put us back on our feet,” the presenter explained. “There were the first responders, the forestry service, law enforcement, the military and citizens helping citizens — but none were working harder than our own Little Ocmulgee Electric Membership Corporation linemen and staff, along with Georgia Power and electrical workers who came from across the state and the country to restore power.”

The Chamber said that the community is indebted to Little Ocmulgee Electric Membership Corporation’s linemen and staff for both their diligent work to restore the power during the area’s most destructive storm, but also for the work the company has completed within the community for 87 years.

Founded in 1938 and based in Alamo, LOEMC has 38 employees and covers 960 square miles of territory including Wheeler, Telfair, Montgomery, Laurens and Dodge counties. The organization is represented by a board made up of directors from each of the communities it serves and is headed by Lewis Sheffield, general manager.

Sheffield and other Little Ocmulgee EMC employees attended the Chamber’s annual banquet and accepted the award on behalf of the Corporation.