JerryBellune@yahoo.com

Keller Kissam says he thanks God every morning for giving him his job. He says with God’s help he is able to “lift up” his SC Electric & Gas employees as they weather tough times. Kissam is a senior vice president of the Lexington County-based company. SCE&G and its parent holding company SCANA face a financial crisis from the collapse of a $9 billion nuclear power project. With the booming voice of a former Citadel cadet commander, Kissam told Lexington Chamber of Commerce members “things at the power company are tough.” He made no apologies for the mistakes that led to the project’s failure but said that his employees are paying a price for something they had no control over. Their retirement plans and company stock have lost almost half the value they had last year, he said. “Our linemen do some of the most dangerous work in the world,” he said. He also shared a personal story about a wakeup call he received from his wife. He was busy working with his employees when his wife called him repeatedly. He finally answered to learn their daughter was diagnosed with cancer. He dropped what he was doing. This taught him the work and his employees are important, he said, but taking care of his family was even more important. “Tough times don’t last,” he said, quoting Robert Schuller, “tough people do.”