Celebrating National Co-Op Month
It’s the most wonderful time of the year!
Now, do not freak out. Give me a second to explain, because I promise I am not piling on to the ever-growing sprawl of Christmas ad campaigns that have somehow started popping up before Halloween candy has even been handed out.
I am actually right on time with this message. For as much as I love Christmas, October is the most wonderful time of the year in the co-op world because it’s when we celebrate National Cooperative Month.
During this special month, we get to celebrate the principles that guide every cooperative. We celebrate the local farmers and ranchers who joined forces to bring electricity to our communities. We celebrate a business model that allows us to place more emphasis on the quality of our service rather than profits. Here are a few things you might find interesting about cooperatives:
- Cooperatives go way back. The oldest cooperative in the United States actually predates American independence by more than 20 years and was founded by Benjamin Franklin. The Philadelphia Contributorship still operates today as a mutual insurance company.
- There are more of us than you think. We love our story of local farmers and ranchers banding together to bring electricity to their local communities, but the cooperative business model covers far more than the utility world. Other large and well-known co-ops include Land O’Lakes, Sunkist Growers, Ocean Spray, Ace Hardware, True Value Hardware, the Associated Press, REI, Best Western, Navy Federal Credit Union, and State Farm Insurance.
- We are all guided by the 7 Cooperative Principles. Whether it is an agricultural cooperative, a mutual insurance company, or a member-owned utility like Wells Rural Electric Company, we all adhere to Voluntary and Open Membership, Democratic Member Control, Members’ Economic Participation, Autonomy and Independence, Education, Training and Information, Cooperation Among Cooperatives, and Concern for Community.
- What makes us different makes us great. Investor-owned utilities and businesses surely have their place. I am also incredibly grateful that I do not work at one. While IOUs are driven by maximizing profits to their investors, co-ops like WREC exist to best serve their members. At WREC, that means providing safe, reliable, affordable, and environmentally responsible electricity to all of our members, but it also means dedication to improving the quality of life in our communities. Every day, I work for a company dedicated to its members and the communities we all live in.
- You are our lifeblood. To truly celebrate our cooperative is to celebrate you, our members. At WREC, we choose to observe National Cooperative Month with Member Appreciation Month. We love fall because it means we get to take the time to celebrate with you. Whether it is at our community rallies or in our offices, we look forward to showing you what you mean to us.
In October, we are handing out sunshades and snacks in all of our front offices. Stop in and say hello. We are also applying a $5 credit to every account with on-time payments over the last 12 months.
Beyond these tokens of our appreciation, I want to give my sincerest thanks to every member we serve. It has been a true honor to wake up every day and go to work to make our communities a place we are all proud to call home.
Thad S. Ballard
CEO