LCEC CEO Denise Vidal named among state’s most influential business leaders

Sep 4, 2025 By CJ HADDAD 12 min read

A local CEO has garnered state-wide recognition for her impact as part of an exclusive list of leaders in the Sunshine State.

Denise Vidal, executive vice president and CEO of Lee County Electric Cooperative, was recently named among Florida’s most influential business leaders as part of Florida Trend’s “Florida 500.”

The annual publication, developed through a year-long research initiative by Florida Trend editors, highlights the most impactful executives across key industries who are helping shape Florida’s economic future.

“It was truly an honor, I have to say,” Vidal said of being named to the Florida 500 in the energy category. “I was grateful and humbled by the recognition. It’s just an honor to be named among so many of Florida’s most talented and accomplished leaders. To me, the recognition, it’s not just personal, it reflects the work of our entire LCEC team, from the dedicated employees to the support of the board of trustees, we’re just very fortunate to have a dedicated board.”

The Florida 500 selection process includes months of research, interviews, and input from industry experts, economic development leaders, and community stakeholders throughout the state, according to floridatrend500.com. The result is a highly selective, biographical look at Florida’s top business leaders who are driving progress and innovation in their fields.

“I hope it serves as an example to others — especially younger professionals coming up in the industry, or just business in general — that if they have focus, flexibility, perseverance, that they can achieve their goals no matter how big they seem,” Vidal said. “The experience just reminds me that leadership is not just about titles, it’s about service and impact, and just inspiring confidence in others so that they can also reach their potential.”

Vidal, 60, was appointed CEO of LCEC in late 2019 after serving in a wide range of leadership roles over her 20-plus-year career at the cooperative. She was nominated for the Florida 500 by an anonymous individual. She said making the list wasn’t something that she was thinking about, and that she doesn’t perform her duties for recognition.

“I do what I do to serve the company, the employees, the board, the members,” Vidal said. “Somebody out there is seeing some good. Especially when I scroll through all of those people on (the Florida 500), some of them are also in my industry and have inspired me. They’re my peers. I’ve learned from them and work with them on all of our challenges. It’s great to feel like people are recognizing the good work that I do on behalf of LCEC. They’re recognizing the organization as well.”

Vidal’s experience with LCEC spans customer service, finance, accounting, and marketing. Prior to, she had a career in telecommunications.

“I just always knew at a young age I wanted to be in the corporate business world,” she said. “I just wanted to continually grow. I wanted to learn. I wanted to add value wherever I worked.”

Education has always been a top priority for Vidal as well. She made it a focus to earn an undergraduate, graduate, and Masters of Business Administration in accounting.

She reached the executive level at her telecommunications job before the company changed course, which in turn brought Vidal to Southwest Florida.

A year after arriving, she joined LCEC as a marketing supervisor. Her past experience quickly allowed Vidal to take on other leadership roles within the company.

She managed the call center, moved into accounting, and eventually had an executive position where she oversaw a variety of support areas of LCEC. Eventually, she was asked to take on the role of CFO which she held for 11 years until the board appointed her (after a long interview process) as CEO.

“It was a little bit surreal to move into (the CFO) role,” Vidal said. “It was a really good match. I really enjoyed that role a lot and it positioned me well to be considered for the CEO role. As CFO you learn even more about the company and you expand on your relationships and your industry experience. It just really ballooned from there.”

Under her leadership, LCEC has successfully navigated historic challenges, including the global COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain challenges, rapid community growth and devastating hurricanes like the catastrophic impact of Hurricane Ian.

Just months after taking on the title of CFO was when the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the globe.

Vidal said LCEC had to work in a different way while keeping things transparent to customers. Like most employers, working together and side-by-side was not viable at the time, which Vidal said was one of the biggest challenges for the company, which she said really thrives on employees physically working together. Office employees went to remote work, while those out in the field either worked solo or practiced social distancing.

“I can’t not recognize the team,” Vidal said of how LCEC navigated that time. “It was another just proud and humbling experience because the team just came together so well. We had to be very flexible and just adapt very quickly (and) make it as transparent to our members as possible and I think the team really succeeded. When you get through something like that, it’s almost like you can do anything. All of that experience made us really successful when Ian hit and when other hurricanes hit a couple years after that. We plan for hurricanes. We update that plan every year, we practice it, we train with it — everybody knows what their role is. We just moved into Hurricane Ian restoration without skipping a beat.”

With Hurricane Ian being one of, if not the most devastating storm in the region’s history, LCEC was all-hands-on-deck in restoring power to a grid that was completely in the dark.

Vidal describes the experience as almost exhilarating, which she admits could sound odd.

“It’s a moment where team LCEC is at its best,” she said. “We’re all focused on one goal, and that is to get power restored as safely and quickly as humanly possible. Part of the exhilaration was stretching ourselves so much because that was such widespread damage. Our entire service area was really ground zero. Added to that was about 25 to 30% of our team members had direct damage. That was new in terms of trying to help people emotionally through that when they also had to stay focused on their role in the restoration.”

Vidal said Ian required LCEC to bring on more resources than they’ve ever had to in its 85-year history due to the magnitude of damage. There were thousands of other industry professionals that came in to work alongside LCEC employees.

“It was amazing how well we worked together and how quickly everyone melded together, and how safely we worked,” she said. “We had no safety incidents in that whole restoration.”

Vidal said it being a state-wide effort, LCEC was able to conjoin with state officials and departments with which they wouldn’t otherwise interact.

“I was super proud of my team,” she said. “I can’t even express how proud I was to work alongside the team through that.”

LCEC headquarters are in North Fort Myers, in the same location where the cooperative originated in 1940. Approximately 450 skilled employees are positioned throughout the six-county service territory, including Immokalee, Cape Coral, North Fort Myers, Sanibel/Captiva, Pine Island, Ussepa, Cabbage Key, Marco Island, Everglades City, Ave Maria, and parts of Lehigh Acres.

LCEC is a member-owned cooperative, which Vidal said gives the team a very clear focus.

“We don’t have that balance that a for-profit company has to do between what’s best for shareholders and what’s best for customers,” she said. “We get to focus just on members — they’re one in the same. It really drives our focus to what’s important. Every decision we make, we think about the members first.

“When the financial position allows, the board will approve some of the equity to be returned back, whether it’s a credit on the bill or, possibly, if the member is inactive they might get a small check, so we’re able to operate in that manner through the equity ownership.

“We are also living in the communities we serve, so with us being really focused in our service territories, the employees all live in those communities. That gives us just an added benefit of understanding the membership needs.”

From a small power plant with just 15 miles of power lines and 158 members, to now serving 240,000 customers across six counties, LCEC has had a front-row seat to the growth in the region while playing a major role in utility service. Vidal said while areas are different in the way they’re served, growth across the board is on a level playing field.

“We’re always looking forward,” Vidal said of LCEC’s handling of growth. “We do 10-year forecasts, so the growth is not a surprise when it hits. We understand then what that growth needs, and we can manage it in a disciplined manner to make sure that we’ve got the plant and the infrastructure in place when it’s needed. It’s planning the work and working the plan. We also have great guidance from our board who represent the members from all of the different areas and they’ve got such a diverse experience amongst them that really helps us as well.”

Vidal said it’s also vital to have strong relationships with suppliers, that LCEC is negotiating the best terms for costs, and that they have the best talent possible to be as effective and efficient as possible.

“All of those things are going to help manage your costs,” she said. “We’re very cost-conscious for sure. That translates into things being affordable. It’s a constant balancing act and it takes all of us working together to be successful at that.”

Being named as a top business leader in Florida, Vidal said she would describe her leadership style as servant leadership.

“When I say servant leadership — I’m here for the employees and I’m here for the members,” she said. “I’m not here for personal gain or recognition, I’m here to enable affordable and reliable power to members and enable the employees to make that happen for members.

“I’m also fortunate to have found in LCEC, an organization that matches my values where I put service at a high level, I put integrity at a high importance, so that makes it easier to come to work every day and help team LCEC through whatever the latest challenge is.”

Being part of the community beyond just keeping the lights on is something that is paramount for LCEC and Vidal. The cooperative can be seen throughout the region sponsoring events and playing a role in charitable causes.

“It’s one of our core principles and values,” Vidal said. “It’s very, very important that we support the communities in which we work and live. We do sponsor as many events as we can, and we have employees volunteering in the community as well.”

LCEC offers volunteer programs, such as its “Power of Us” program, which sees each of LCEC’s 450 employees be able to take a work day volunteering and giving back.

The “Pay if Forward” program is for LCEC employees who volunteer and give back on their own time — they track their hours and when they reach 50 hours, LCEC will donate $50 to the charity of that employee’s choice up to $100.

There’s also the LCEC “500 club,” where employees who volunteer 500 hours of their time are recognized and put into a drawing, where $500 is given to a charity.

Of course, the team at LCEC is exceptionally proud of the honor bestowed to Vidal by being named to the Florida 500.

“We could not be more proud to have her as our representative,” said LCEC spokesperson Shannon Williamson. “We’re not surprised, either. We have gone through so much with her as CEO (with COVID and Hurricane Ian, as well as supply chain challenges). It’s just kind of been one test after another, and she just keeps getting us through it.”

Williamson describes Vidal as “humble” and “personable.”

“She’s a fighter,” she said. “She makes sure that the members get the same opportunities others do, and makes sure that everyone else is thought of first.”

Williamson said with Vidal being a female in a prominent leadership role, that she’s someone she looks up to.

“Seeing that she is who she is in doing all of this, it makes me feel empowered,” Williamson said.

In her six years at LCEC, Williamson said Vidal showed the utmost resolve and perseverance through Hurricane Ian.

“Denise lost a lot during Hurricane Ian,” Williamson said. “She could have stepped away or stepped back, but she stepped forward because she knew that the organization and all of the members needed her. She put everyone else in front of her needs. That’s a leader. Everyone here was all-hands-on-deck, and that was because of her.”

Vidal is a mother, grandmother, and a wife, and is the fifth CEO in LCEC’s history (second woman).

Vidal has an adventurous side as well. She enjoys riding dirt bikes, four-wheelers, sailing, skiing, and the outdoors in general.

As for her future with LCEC, she said, “I hope that I can make a lasting impact that acts as a springboard for the team that carries on after me to just keep doing the right things and good things for the community in terms of not just being reliable and affordable power, which is our mission of course, but all of the ways LCEC contributes to the community.”

To reach CJ HADDAD, please email cjhaddad@breezenewspapers.com