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An alliance between Canadian Valley Electric Cooperative and Central Rural Electric Cooperative


Consolidation Talk from Industry Leaders: Cooperative leaders discuss the CVEC and CREC consolidation


Cooperative leadership from across the state came together in February to learn about the potential consolida- tion between Canadian Valley Electric Cooperative and Central Rural Electric Cooperative. The agenda included top offi cials from several state and national agencies with whom the two cooper- atives work closely. Agency offi cials spoke on the considerations for con- solidation and industry drivers leading cooperatives to pursue consolidations.


Among the speakers was Bob Engel, CEO for CoBank, a national cooper- ative bank headquartered in Denver, Colorado, which provides fi nancing to agribusinesses and rural power, water and communications providers nationwide. Engel spoke on the value consolidations make for the enterpris- es involved. Engel praised the boards of CVEC and CREC for the visionary leadership he believes is similar to the leadership rural electric cooperatives were founded on.


“My initial thought as a businessman and banker is this makes tremendous sense,” Engel said. “People sometimes underestimate the impact, power and importance rural electric cooperatives have on rural communities. An orga- nization like this will have the ca- pacity to have a much greater impact on them.”


The National Rural Utilities Coop- erative Finance Corporation (CFC) located in Dulles, Virginia, is a member-owned, nonprofi t cooperative and lender for electric cooperatives. Sheldon Petersen, CEO of CFC, spoke on their role of helping assess the fea- sibility of the consolidation between CVEC and CREC.


“We do this because we believe a stronger cooperative creates greater benefi ts for not only it’s local mem- bership, but also for the entire network nationwide,” Petersen said. “What is extremely gratifying is to be able to step back years later – in the consol-


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idated cooperatives that we worked with many years ago – and see the value that has been created exceeds far beyond what we had expected it to at that time.”


Petersen expanded on the thought people are resistant to change.


“The business world in the future is going to change whether we try to control it or not,” Petersen said. “There is only a certain amount we can control. So you control what you can, deal with the rest to the best you can and understand life is an evo- lutionary cycle that is always going to change.”


Another speaker was Edward Moran, a fi eld representative with the Rural Util- ities Service (RUS), a division of the USDA. RUS administers programs that provide infrastructure or infrastructure improvements to rural communities, including rural electric service. Moran spoke on the concept of synergy.


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