Laurie Pendergraft has been selected as the 2014 Akin Award of Excellence Winner, the highest accolade for a Coates field employee.
Pendergraft is the daughter of Ruth Pendergraft, who owned and operated the Little Bake Shop in Anderson for 23 years.
Since 1950, Coates Field Service, Inc. has been exclusively in the business of land and right-of-way acquisition services. The first company of its kind, Coates has established a national reputation as a leader in the land and right-of-way acquisition industry. The Coates corporate headquarters is in Oklahoma City.
Pendergraft grew up in Nebraska. She earned a bachelor's degree in communications with an emphasis in public relations from the University of Alaska Southeast in Juneau. Pendergraft joined Coates in 2006. She has represented Coates in several states on a variety of electric and pipeline transmission projects. She is currently working on an Ameren Services project as a senior right of way agent on a 345kV electric transmission line in Illinois.
Pendergraft is married to Chuck Cota, a Coates right of way agent, and they are the parents of an 18-month-old daughter, Merle.
Pendergraft said "I think being a right of way agent is the ultimate study in human nature. The whole experience is unusual and interesting. Every job is a new adventure and, just when you think you have it all figured out, there's something new to learn! I love it and I feel blessed to be able to go to work every day."
Community on 06/25/2015