• Work-Life Balance
  • Work-Life Resources
• Executive Success Stories
  • Ad Campaigns
  • Interviews with Ohio Executives
  • Interviews with Ohio Employees
  • Executive Spouse Interviews
• Social Media
• Discover Ohio
• Living in Ohio
  • Outdoor Recreation in Ohio
  • Performing Arts in Ohio
  • Museums and Galleries in Ohio
  • Professional Sports in Ohio
  • Low Cost of Living in Ohio
• Shop Ohio Online

Rocky Boots

Pursuing the road less traveled, Mike Brooks is firmly planting his footprint. In Ohio.

Rocky Brands has a global footprint. CEO Mike Brooks studied shoe design in Milan, Italy at the start of his career. But, after traveling the world, he found that Ohio was the only place he wanted to rest his boots.

And Rocky is supported by AEP Ohio, its preferred energy partner. AEP Ohio has a stake in the state's economic vitality, providing competitive and reliable electricity to thousands of businesses committed to Ohio as the prime location to grow and prosper.

Ohio offers the resources Mike needs to succeed. In 2004, Rocky Brands purchased one of its competitors - a company with headquarters in another state. When asked to relocate, Mike's decision was immediate: "We're staying put in hardworking Ohio."

Why Ohio? Mike cites advantages such as the state's 21st century workforce and location within 600 miles of 60 percent of the U.S. population. Excellent schools and low cost of living make it easy to attract and retain talent. His employees stay sharp through study in Ohio's first-class higher education system at Hocking College and Ohio University.

Ohio gives Mike a work:life balance he has found nowhere else. Through the airport in nearby Columbus, he takes easy day-trips to meet with customers, often returning home in time for dinner and a walk in the woods with his wife. In Ohio, Mike has it all - without sacrifice. Mike has time with friends and the five generations of the Brooks family who gather for Christmas dinner at the family homestead.

About Rocky Boots

Headquartered in Nelsonville, Ohio, ROCKY® Outdoor Gear is a world leader in rugged outdoor and occupational footwear. A corporate office, warehouse, and distribution center now accompany the original manufacturing building in Nelsonville that goes back to 1932.

Nearly 3,000 retail and catalog outlets carry ROCKY footwear. The ROCKY goal to provide quality outdoor and occupational footwear has not changed since the doors opened over 70 years ago.

About AEP Ohio

AEP Ohio serves nearly 1.5 million customers in Ohio and the northern panhandle of West Virginia. In Ohio, we provide power to more than 920 communities located in 61 of the state's 88 counties. In West Virginia, we serve Ohio and Marshall counties, providing service to approximately 41,000 customers. Our headquarters is in Gahanna, with regulatory and external affairs offices in downtown Columbus. A subsidiary of American Electric Power and the largest of its regional utility divisions, AEP Ohio is comprised of Columbus Southern Power Company and Ohio Power Company and Wheeling Power.

AEP Ohio is focused on providing reliable affordable energy to our customers in a safe, effective manner. We also are committed to environmental protection and improvement consistent with providing electricity at a competitive price.

We at AEP Ohio believe strongly in the merits of fuel diversity in generating electricity, and our generating fleet reflects that belief. Today, coal-fired plants account for 74 percent of AEP's generating capacity, while natural gas represents 15 percent and nuclear 8 percent. The remaining 3 percent comes from wind, hydro, pumped storage and other sources.

AEP Ohio is part of the American Electric Power system, one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, delivering electricity to more than 5 million customers in 11 states. AEP ranks among the nation's largest generators of electricity, owning nearly 38,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the U.S. AEP also owns the nation's largest electricity transmission system, a nearly 39,000-mile network that includes more 765 kilovolt extra-high voltage transmission lines than all other U.S. transmission systems combined. AEP's transmission system directly or indirectly serves about 10 percent of the electricity demand in the Eastern Interconnection, the interconnected transmission system that covers 38 eastern and central U.S. states and eastern Canada, and approximately 11 percent of the electricity demand in ERCOT, the transmission system that covers much of Texas. AEP's utility units operate as AEP Ohio, AEP Texas, Appalachian Power (in Virginia and West Virginia), AEP Appalachian Power (in Tennessee), Indiana Michigan Power, Kentucky Power, Public Service Company of Oklahoma, and Southwestern Electric Power Company (in Arkansas, Louisiana and east Texas). AEP's headquarters are in Columbus, Ohio. For more information, see our corporate web site, AEP.com.