JONESVILLE &8212; Concordia Electric Cooperative has been in business since 1940. And while there have been a lot of changes during that time, one thing has remained constant.

Since 1949, there has been at least one person named Price on the company&8217;s payroll.

Guy Price got the family started in the electricity business, hiring on with the co-op in March of 1949. His son, Richard Guy Price &8212; that&8217;s R.G. to anyone who knows him &8212; started in June of that year. At first, it was just a summer job for the rising LSU junior, but that changed as the summer wore on.

&8220;I kind of liked everything, so I told Mr. (Gene) Dale I was going to stay,&8221; he said. &8220;He told me he was going to fire me a week before registration if I didn&8217;t want to go back to school.&8221;

R.G. won out in the end, and Dale, the co-ops general manager, soon sent him to meter-reading school in New Orleans.

&8220;And a lot more schools after that,&8221; R.G. said.

Thus started his 36-year career with the company, time interrupted only by a one-year Marine tour in Korea, his second war.

Guy retired 17 years into R.G.&8217;s tenure, so he carried the family flag alone until his own retirement neared. He mentioned to his son, Robert, that there would be a position open at the company.

&8220;He said he was ready to retire and they were looking for someone, so I said what the heck,&8221; Robert said. &8220;That was 21 years ago.&8221;

Robert Price is the supervisor of the meter department, among many other things.

And while the tools of the trade have changed a little bit

&8212; &8220;I couldn&8217;t function without my Palm Pilot,&8221; Robert said. &8220;I couldn&8217;t function with one,&8221; R.G. replied &8212; the job will always have one thing that never changes.

&8220;No one thinks their meter is right,&8221; R.G. Price, 79, said.

&8220;I read a meter once and the man said to me, &8216;In 1929 I was in the circus and I saw a guy do what you just did, you just tricked me,&8217;&8221; Robert Price said.

&8220;Give people a $5 light bill and they want to jump on you,&8221; R.G. commiserated.

Bobby Price, 20, hasn&8217;t too many meter checking war stories yet, but judging from his two years with the company so far, he&8217;ll get the opportunity.

&8220;I didn&8217;t really want to do it,&8221; he said. &8220;I started off part-time and they asked if I&8217;d like to make this a career and I said there&8217;s no way I&8217;ll make a career at this place.&8221;

But driving a bucket truck, putting on the climbing rings and running around building lines and fixing problems &8212; with his father riding shotgun some days &8212; changed his mind.

And his supervisor is glad it did.

&8220;He&8217;s a good person and a good lineman,&8221; Construction Supervisor Lane Watson said. &8220;He&8217;s come a long way very quickly.&8221;

When told Bobby Price planned to stick around awhile, Watson said he was pleased.

&8220;I hope so, I&8217;d hate to lose him.&8221;

Billy Harris, Concordia Electric&8217;s general manager and CEO, said if the youngest Price is like his father, grandfather and great-grandfather, he looked for him to do just that.

&8220;They&8217;re a big part of our co-op, it&8217;s in their blood,&8221; he said.

Harris, who has 32 years with Concordia Electric himself, said the Prices personify the values organization.

&8220;You need loyal people; it&8217;s what a co-op is: people in the community delivering a service for the community,&8221; he said.

And while Guy Price, who died in 1990, isn&8217;t around to see it, his son speaks for him in expressing his pride in his family&8217;s collective 76 years&8217; experience with the company.

&8220;I am proud; Oh yes, you know I am,&8221; R.G. Price said.