S&C Electric Co. celebrated its 100-year anniversary on Sept. 25, 2011, with a daylong extravaganza for family and friends: family because S&C is employee-owned. and friends because a company that has never had an involuntary reduction in force believes in recognizing and rewarding team.

Those attending the event — employees, retirees, families, friends, customers, rep firms and special guests — enjoyed a day of festivities that included live music, kiddie rides, face painting and a barbecue, as well as a tour of the facilities, including the Smart Grid Solutions Demonstration Center.

At the closing ceremony, CEO John Estey — one of only three CEOs in the company's 100-year history — shared S&C's four pillars of success:

• Values

  S&C believes in doing the right things for the right reasons.

• Innovation

  S&C is in the marketplace selling ideas, new products, new services and new technologies.

• Private ownership

  Private ownership is a must to provide stability for S&C employees; S&C is an employee-owned company.

• 2,500 employees

  The S&C family has made the company a winner for 100 years.

The IEEE Foundation Major Gifts Officer, Michael Deering, was on hand to acknowledge the generous US$1 million gift from the S&C Foundation. This donation launches the IEEE Power & Energy Society's Scholarship Plus Initiative, which provides multi-year scholarships and career experience opportunities to qualifying U.S. electrical engineering undergraduate students. As long as the scholar continues to meet renewal standards, he or she will receive up to three years of funding — $2,000 the first year, $2,000 the second year and $3,000 the third year — interspersed with up to two much-valued career experiences.

In addition, an “IEEE PES John Estey Outstanding Scholar” will be selected in each of the six U.S. IEEE regions. Each recipient will receive $5,000 for school expenses, IEEE and IEEE PES student membership for 12 months, a travel to and special recognition at the PES annual meeting, and coverage in the IEEE Power & Energy Magazine

For a company that lists “innovation” as one of the four pillars of success, it is only fitting that investing in the next generation of engineers will build on the technical foundations of the industry well into the next century.

For more information, visit www.sandc.com and www.ee-scholarship.org.