NRE Leadership

Ike Poe serves as President, CEO, and Chairman of the Board for New River Electrical. He brings an ownership mindset to fellow employee-owners and institutes a partnership mentality between New River Electrical and its customers. For 20 years, Ike has been in a leadership role in some capacity throughout his tenure at New River. Ike came to New River as an Estimating Assistant. From there, he held several positions throughout the Operations Group, including Project Manager, Vice President of Overhead Line, and Sr. Vice President of Operations for the Ohio region. Most recently, Ike was the Chief Operating Officer for New River Electrical until he assumed the role of President in 2023. He proudly serves on the Board of Trustees and as the Chapter President for American Line Builders (NECA). Ike earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration & Management from Lincoln Memorial University and his MBA from the Fisher College of Business at The Ohio State University.

Jake Grice is the Chief Operating Officer of Construction Services for New River Electrical. In his current role, Grice oversees NRE's entire construction operations nationwide. He works closely with New River leadership to grow the organization, achieve elite safety performance, and exceed customer expectations. Jake has been with New River Electrical for over ten years, starting as a project manager in the Overhead Line group. With the company's growth, Jake was appointed Division Manager and Vice President of the Overhead Line Division before assuming his current role. Before he arrived at New River Electrical, Jake was a Transmission Line Project Engineer managing truly unique projects ranging from 34.5kV to 765kV for an investor-owned utility. Jake earned a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Ohio Northern University. He is a licensed Professional Engineer and a registered Project Management Professional (PMP).

Greg Gibbs is the Chief Operating Officer of EPC & Project Support Services. In his current role, Gibbs oversees NRE's Engineer, Procure, and Construction (EPC) projects nationwide. He works closely with NRE Construction Services and Procurement departments to deliver quality, turnkey solutions to our customers. Greg came to New River Electrical with over 21 years of electric utility construction and engineering experience, including a wide range of skill sets built through progressive engineering, project management, supervision, consulting, and business operations roles in the industry. Before joining New River, Greg held several leadership positions in American Electric Power's generation and transmission business units. He then was the Vice President of a large Engineer-Procure-Construct (EPC) firm. Greg earned a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Ohio University and is a registered Project Management Professional (PMP).

Laura L. Volpini is New River Electrical’s Chief Strategy & Shared Servcies Officer. As CSSSO, Laura oversees several support departments for NRE, including Risk & Compliance, Contracts Management, Technology, Marketing & Communications, Business Development & Sales, Procurement, Fleet & Facilities, and Safety & QA. She focuses on governance and compliance with the company employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) and the corporation. Before joining New River Electrical, she was an independent member of the company’s Board of Directors. With over 20 years of experience in construction and business law, she has extensive experience handling real estate, business, and construction cases in federal, state, and municipal courts and before administrative agencies. Laura earned a BSBA in Marketing and Logistics, an MBA from John Carrol University, and her JD from Case Western Reserve University. In addition to owning her successful legal practice in Cleveland, Ohio, Laura is a member of the Ohio State Bar Association and the National Association of REALTORS.

Jerod serves as New River Electrical’s Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Treasurer. In his role, he oversees and provides strategic direction for New River’s Accounting & Controls providing innovative, progressive, and proactive leadership throughout the company. Jerod brings more than 15 years of executive leadership experience across finance, operations, and strategy, with a strong track record of supporting growth, scaling multi-division organizations, and aligning financial performance with operational execution. He has served in CFO, COO, and President roles across construction, infrastructure, and service-based businesses, and is known for building strong teams and using data-driven insights to support smart decision-making and long-term value creation.