Welcome back to our “Meet the Team” series, where we spotlight the dedicated team at Perceptive Power Infrastructure (PPI). This time, we’re introducing a key player who intertwines operational efficiency with her personal passion for serving rural communities – our Head of Operations, Katie Tampke.
Raised in Leawood, Kansas, childhood memories of her great-grandmother’s farm in Texas ingrained Katie’s love for open spaces and an understanding of rural life’s unique challenges and needs.
How Did Your Career in Operations Start?
After starting out as an emergency management consultant, Katie’s journey led her to freelance management consulting. She has an affinity for transforming big ideas into reality, applying critical thinking, organization, and meticulous planning to meet ambitious goals. This passion makes her a perfect fit for PPI, where our vision is ambitious and grounded in community-centric values.
Katie brings to PPI not just her operational acumen but her commitment to rural communities. She sees the energy sector poised for a fundamental shift to renewables, stating,
The rural groups we work with want to provide a needed service for their communities, during a time when the cost of everything is going up. Distributed generation can help them do that more affordably, and profitably.
How Do You Keep Goals and Projects on Track?
“I love working with the people that have big ideas but cannot always actualize them. It is nice to help them achieve their goals with a little critical thinking, organization, and planning.”
With Katie’s multifaceted role at PPI, she ensures that even the finest details don’t slip through the cracks during our energy projects, balancing the high-level technical expertise of her colleagues with the everyday necessities of organization and progression.
The unique experience of working alongside her father, our Co-Founder Scott, adds a layer of familial trust and unfiltered communication that strengthens our team’s foundation. She shares, “Our feedback comes from a place of mutual caring and respect which is not a given in all workplaces.”
What Inspires You in Your Work at PPI?
Katie’s prior work with communities impacted by power outages, like those during Winter Storm Uri in Texas, has deeply influenced her perspective on how critically important energy resource diversification is for rural communities.
Her resolve is reinforced by the harsh realities she’s witnessed, driving her to make a difference through PPI’s work. She remembers,
“I helped with multiple After-Action Reports on the emergency response efforts during that time, and I saw how deeply it affected those communities. I’m happy to be a part of the diversification of energy resources in Texas, hopefully decreasing the chances of such catastrophic effects during future natural disasters.”
Do You Think PPI Can Bring Change to the Industry?
Katie believes wholeheartedly in PPI’s potential to be a catalyst for transformative change in the energy industry. Her operational expertise is a crucial piece of our mission to drive a future where rural communities can withstand and thrive – regardless of natural disasters or economic challenges.
“Our team knows the rural communities we work with and their history. This familiarity helps us get in the door. After that, PPI invites our potential clients to re-evaluate their current energy sources, more importantly their current energy costs. When they see how much working with us can save their customers financially (especially during outages), change seems like a good idea.”
Empathy, Innovation, and Intention: Cornerstones of The Perceptive Way
Combining our energy expertise with empathy and personal commitments to our rural roots is The Perceptive Way – our guiding framework in which listening and understanding the needs of the RECs we partner with is our first priority. This ethos is something Katie proudly embodies.
If Katie’s story resonates with you, or if you’re interested in learning how PPI’s approach to energy solutions can benefit your community, get in touch today to start the conversation. Let’s explore how we can work together to empower your community with sustainable, cost-effective energy solutions.
Meet the Team is a series of blogs in which we introduce the great people who make up Perceptive Power Infrastructure. Each blog explores the expertise they bring to our team and how they’re working to make the industry better for rural electric cooperatives.
The Team Founded In Rural Roots
