Alba Weaver, OG&E Energy Corp. senior manager of local and community affairs, starts and ends her day with her fur babies, checks on her daughter busy with field work in Peru and works across multiple Oklahoma cities pushing forward economic development issues and community improvement projects.
5:45 a.m. Alarm goes off and I hit snooze once, twice — OK, three times. I am not a morning person; I need five more minutes.
6:15 a.m. I’m officially woken up by my fur babies, and I’m greeted by my hubby, Matthew, with a cup of coffee in hand. While still in bed, I check messages to see if the daughter unit, Sofia, who is doing field work and research abroad in Peru, has texted. I respond to a few emails and finally force myself to get out of bed.
7:30 a.m. Join an internal Teams meeting to discuss capacity and renewable energy requirements on several OG&E projects in the works.
8 a.m. Grab my to-go cup of coffee while talking to one of my team members about our company’s fan donations. Kiss the hubby goodbye, get in the car and turn on NPR and drive to Enid for a meeting with our partners and city leaders.
9 a.m. Collaborate with the city manager, assistant city manager, public works director and community development director in Enid about their downtown lighting project and economic development strategy.
12 p.m. Back in Oklahoma City at Southeast High School where I am joined by local dignitaries for our first scholarship surprise announcement of the year. OG&E’s Positive Energy Scholarships are life- changing as they offer up to $60,000 throughout a four-year period to help students pursue higher education.
1 p.m. Grab a quick bite of lunch at Thai Kitchen — my favorite go-to is the spicy veggie pad thai.
1:30 p.m. Quick call with Carl Geffken, city administrator for the City of Fort Smith, in Arkansas, about federal funding for port electrification project opportunities and to identify who I need to be talking to. Electrification of ports has a significant impact in the environmental and economic well-being of local communities. Electrification holds great potential to reduce final energy demand.
2 p.m. Review and discuss agenda for a roundtable meeting with community affairs managers. My hardworking team of CAMS are based across Oklahoma and Northwest Arkansas, and each member partners with businesses, local governments and social service agencies to grow our communities.
3 p.m. Calls to the City of OKC City Manager Craig Freeman and City of Norman City Manager Darrel Pyle to discuss “Right Tree — Right Place” initiatives.
4 p.m. Drive to Leadership Oklahoma City’s office for a meeting with my good friends and partners Kim Wilmes, vice president of economic development programs at Greater Oklahoma City Chamber; Kenton Tsoodle, president and CEO of Alliance for Economic Development; Dan Straughan, executive director of Homeless Alliance; and Christy Idleman, economic development manager at OG&E, to plan LOKC’s Signature Class Economic Development Day. Dan and I had the distinct pleasure of leading LOKC’s Signature Classes 39 and 40.
5:15 p.m. Head back to the office to finish up a report, respond to a couple of missed calls. Respond to emails and finalize changes needed to a nondisclosure agreement prior to an upcoming visit with a company in Muskogee.
5:45 p.m. Respond to a call from the hubby wanting to know what I would like for dinner and encouraging me to head home. Another call from Matthew: “How about dinner at VII Asian Bistro or Sala Thai?” We decide to go with Vietnamese food for dinner this evening. We love Asian food, and we are fortunate to have awesome authentic Asian cuisine in OKC. If you have not visited the growing Asian District recently, I highly encourage it!
6:30 p.m. Gather my things, call my mom on my way out of the building and head out to meet Matthew for dinner at VII Asian Bistro.
8:30 p.m. Home sweet home! Greet my three fur babies, Shelby, Barnaby and Willow, and Sofia’s cat Margot. Give them a treat, change, relax on the couch while enjoying the love from my four-legged babies while Matthew and I wait for the daughter to call.
10 p.m. After an awesome conversation with the daughter about her experiences and research in Peru, I catch up on a bit of news and entertainment.
11 p.m. Check my calendar and review what my day will look like tomorrow. Check emails once more. Respond to a few and send a few.
11:45 p.m. Get ready for bed and finally make it into dreamland.
