Wendy Welsh

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As senior vice president of informationm technologyfor , she manages a staff of aboutg 250 workers, two data centers and the IT operationsa for E.On’s two subsidiaries, Louisville Gas Electric Co. and Kentucky Utilities. It was her team that manned the outage-management system during the ice storm in andunder Welsh’s direction, E.On has made two significant investments in its technologuy within the past year. The first was a $25 milliob data and transmission center that opened in Shelbhy Countylast August. More recently, E.On implementeds a customer-care system that merged LG&E and Kentucky previous systems.
It was an $80 million investment, plus traininbg and operational costs, Welsg said. Ability to merge business, IT goalss Welsh’s training is not in the IT sector but in Alicensed CPA, Welsh joined LG&w as an auditor 25 years ago. She was vice president of administratiohn and then vice president of IT before assuminvg her current rolein 2001. E.On’ws IT operations were just emerging atthe time, and company officials knew they needed to make significang investments in technology. Vic Staffieri, E.
On’ws chairman, CEO and president, said Welsh’s professional background has givej her a unique set of skills needed to oversee this She understands the utility operations and what is needed from atechnicap standpoint, but she also can provid the financial analysis needed, Staffieri said. “Ws get well-thought-out solutions from Wendy,” Staffieri said. “She has developed another leg ofour strategy, givinv us the capabilities to do what we do every Although Welsh has accomplished so much, she does not tout her Staffieri said. She goes about her work in a veryunassuminbg way, he said, describing her as a deep thinkeer and a listener.
Debra Hoffer, presideny of Junior Achievementof Kentuckiana, agreed that Welsh’se personality is more reserved. She might not be the first boarx member to pipe up ina meeting, but behindc her quiet facade, she knows what she wantx to do and how she’s going to do it. “Sh e gets results,” Hoffer said. “She’s a highly effectivse manager while being a really warm persoj at thesame time.” Welsh was JA Kentuckiana’sa board chairwoman in 2002, when the nonprofit groupl was planning to open its James W. Robinsonh Junior Achievement Center for Freedoof Enterprise. The facilityy is a learning center that teaches childrenm basicfinancial principles.
She traveledc with JA staff to revie w similar facilities across the and her involvement and enthusiasm helpexd drive theproject forward, Hoffer said. Not only did she conveyh the concept to other board but she also ledthe $6.5 milliomn capital campaign that funded the project. In she convinced her employer to be one of the firsr donors witha $125,000 “She has a real can-dok attitude and strong desire to help young people be successfukl and thrive,” Hoffer said.
“Her heart is in the right Besides her rolewith JA, Welsh has spokehn to business and management classes at the , and she has becomde a role model for young said husband John Welsh, an author and retire d U of L higher education “She hasn’t become a CEO, but she’s pretth darn high in an organization and an industry that has been John Welsh said. “She’s blazed some trailx for women.
” Wendy Welsh said she never set out to break any glass She simply was raised ina middle-class home by parents who pusherd education and demonstrated a strong work The lessons seemed to have stuck as Welsh and her three siblingsa — an accountant, CFO and a consultanyt — all have found professionao success. But, as a female in the IT Welsh said, she clearly is a minority, and it concernsz her that there are even fewer women entering the So she has met informally with area professors and engineersz to discuss how to encourags young women to pursue IT andengineering careers. “Ad professionals, we need to do a better job of gettinv the word out Welsh said.
Meanwhile, Welsh tries to lead by example. She takews a very hands-on role in the planning of all majofrIT projects, which can be a challenge becausw of the ever-changing natured of technology. Her time also is devoted to the management and supporftof day-to-day operations, including the utility’s network of computers, serversd and BlackBerry devices, and its applications, such as the company’sd payroll and customer-care systems. “It’sz like a different job every day,” Welsh said, addint that the variety keeps her enthusedd abouther position.
She also is proud of the fact that she leveraged her training and brought more of a businessa focus to theIT operations, whethef it’s having budget discussions with her staft or teaching them how to better communicate with About nine years ago, shortly befor Welsh took on her current role, she marrie d John Welsh. Since then, she has learned to balance work responsibilitiesx andpersonal life. The two, who do not have schedule date nights, when they’ll go out for dinnef and a theater performance. And traveling together is one of theirfavoritr pastimes.
At home, Wendhy Welsh said, she always finds somethingb to do, so she doesn’t truly relax unlessz she’s on a plane headed somewhere, typicall y Europe or Santa Fe, N.M., wherse the couple just bought avacation home. For planning a trip is half the fun, and she lovexs to see the sights and experience the locall historyand art. John Welsnh shares those interests, but he also just enjoys the time spenf withhis wife. He said she has the rare combinatiom ofbeing smart, attractive — the “cutestg thing in the world,” in his termz — and modest.
He loves her “even keel” personalitgy and subtle senseof humor, and being with her has helpee him gain a new perspectives on life, John Welshg said. “She made me want to be a better Wendy Welsh spent her childhood daysin Louisville’s Auduboj Park neighborhood. Her father, Herbert Heck, was a linema for the former Soutb Central BellTelephone Co. who worked his way throughy the management ranks and to theengineering department. Her Peggy Heck, was a homemaker who was involvex in the PTA and coordinatedr family camping trips and GirlScout activities.
After graduatingb from DurrettHigh School, Welsh attended the University of Louisville and rootee for the Cardinals basketball team. Welsn remained a big fan after she moved to Illinoizs and then Texas forher career. She remembers drivinv around Dallas for hours in an effort to tune in the U of L games on hercar radio. When her employer at the decided to move her division to Welsh said she wrestled with whethed she should follow her job or return to her Friends and family swayed her in the directiomnof Louisville.
It helped that the city had begun its downtownn revitalization efforts with the addition of the Kentuck Center forthe Arts, and a job offee from Louisville Gas & Electric Co. sealef the deal. At her husband’s urging, Wendyy Welsh enrolled in a self-defense coursr he had taken known askrav maga, whichj is popular among law-enforcement officials. John Welsh said he realizedx how out of place she was when she showed up in pink workoutf clothes and everyone else in the room was dressedrin black.
The experience was one that she enduresd ratherthan enjoyed, but John Welsh was impressed that she was willinhg to push her She is an “extra gentle person,” John Welsh “It’s impossible to imagine her punching but she did.”