Commentary Co-op Month: It’s all about teamwork O
Chris Meyers General Manager, Oklahoma Association of Electric Cooperatives
ctober is ‘Co-op Month,’ and many of the articles you’ll read in this
month’s edition of Oklahoma Living will focus on the coop- erative business model. Often overlooked during Co-op Month are the people behind
such services—those who are dedicated to the team concept of bringing affordable, clean, safe and reli- able electric power to your home or business every minute of each day. We all have our favorite teams, whether they are from OSU, OU or from one of the other state col- leges. Your favorite professional basketball team might even be our own Oklahoma City Thunder. But there is another ‘professional team’ that goes
to work each business day—and sometimes on nights and weekends—trying their very best to de- liver the kind of service you deserve. Those winning teams are comprised of your local co-op employees. You probably know many of them by name.
They may be linemen, literally putting their lives on the line for you every working day. These men
and women are the eyes and ears of your coopera- tive, making contact with members by being ‘where the rubber meets the road.’ There are many other employees in different job
capacities who perform vital roles for your co-op. For example, Rights-of-Way crews are tasked with keeping trees away from power lines, a critical job that affects electricity delivery and reliability. Engineers and staking technicians help design new pathways for power lines, often meeting with new members to make sure their electric service is planned correctly and built according to code requirements.
And then there are the ‘inside’ workers, those who may work in an offi ce environment but who are just as essential to the success of your co-op as any other group. From accountants to reception- ists, customer service representatives to billing spe- cialists, meter technicians to warehouse operators, and line superintendents to department managers, all must work as a team to bring electricity to your door. Co-op month recognizes the importance of the cooperative way of doing business. But it wouldn’t be possible without a great team of local employees, working for you.
Watercolor painting brings story of light A
Jimmy Taylor President, Oklahoma Association of Electric Cooperatives
watercolor paint- ing hanging on one of the walls of my house holds
treasured memories. To any person, it might look like an average painting, but this painting has a special sto- ry behind it: it belonged to my grandmother. How she ac-
quired this painting is, as they say, “the rest of this story.”
In 1939, Granddad was attending a meeting in a
large city. In the afternoon, a Bridge game was ar- ranged to entertain the ladies while the meeting was taking place. Grandmother was fortunate that day and won. The top four fi nishers were allowed to choose prizes. The top three prizes were an electric iron, an electric coffee pot and an electric toaster. The fourth choice was a simple watercolor painting. Since Grandmother had won fi rst place, she got to choose fi rst. She walked right by the electric appliances and chose the painting. The lady in charge of the event questioned her
choice. She reminded Grandmother that she had fi rst pick and could choose any of the nice, new electric appliances. Grandmother replied the
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appliances were nice, but they would not be useful to her because she lived in the country and, there- fore, did not have electricity. You see, the other ladies lived in larger urban
centers and enjoyed the luxuries and comforts brought by electricity. They were unaware that many families in rural areas did not enjoy the same conveniences of electric power.
In the 1930s, investor-owned utilities serving cit- ies refused to serve our rural communities because they could not make enough profi t. I’m thankful rural dwellers in Oklahoma and all over the United States would not settle for a lower quality of life. With financing from the Rural Electric Administration, they organized into cooperatives and built the lines themselves. On Page 6 of this edition, you will read how three of our Oklahoma electric cooperatives were established exactly 75 years ago. The painting on my wall is special to me not only because it was my grandmother’s, but because it reminds me of the people of that era who would not accept their circumstances; instead they chose to unite and empower their communities. We owe these pioneers a debt of gratitude for their determi- nation and foresight. By the way, my grandparents fi nally received electricity in 1946.
Oklahoma Association of Electric Cooperatives
Chris Meyers, General Manager Jimmy Taylor, President
Kendall Beck, Vice-President Gary McCune, Secretary Scott Copeland, Treasurer
Staff
Sid Sperry, Director of PR & Communications
sksperry@oaec.coop
Anna Politano, Managing Editor
editor@ok-living.coop
Daniel Yates, Advertising Manager
dyates@ok-living.coop
Christy Johnson, Offi ce Manager
ohnson@oaec.coop
Kirbi Mills, Accountant/Offi ce Manager Asst.
kmills@oaec.coop
Hayley Leatherwood, Multimedia Specialist
hleatherwood@ok-living.coop
Alexis Mellons, Advertising Intern
adintern@ok-living.coop
Taryn Sanderson, Editorial Intern
intern@oaec.coop
Editorial, Advertising and General Offi ces
P.O. Box 54309, Oklahoma City, OK 73154-1309 Phone (405) 478-1455
Oklahoma Living online:
www.ok-living.coop Subscriptions
$3.12 per year for rural electric cooperative members.
$6.00 per year for non-members. Cooperative Members: Report change of
address to your local rural electric cooperative. Non-Cooperative Members: Send address
changes to Oklahoma Living, P.O. Box 54309, Oklahoma City, OK 73154-1309.
Oklahoma Living (ISSN 1064-8968),
USPS 407-040, is published monthly for consumer-members of Oklahoma’s rural electric cooperatives by the Oklahoma Association of Electric Cooperatives, 2325 E. I-44 Service Road,
P.O. Box 54309, Oklahoma City, OK 73154-1309. Circulation this issue: 318,748
Periodical postage paid at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The Oklahoma Association of Electric
Cooperatives is a statewide service organization for the following electric cooperatives: Alfalfa, Arkansas Valley, Caddo, Canadian Valley,
Central Rural, Choctaw, Cimarron, Cookson Hills, Cotton, East Central Oklahoma, Harmon, Indian, KAMO Power, Kay, Kiamichi, Kiwash, Lake Region, Northeast Oklahoma, Northfork,
Northwestern, Oklahoma, Ozarks, People’s, Red River Valley, Rural, Southeastern, Southwest
Rural, Tri-County, Verdigris Valley, and Western Farmers Electric Cooperative.
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