Big changes have taken place in our community and our world over the past few decades. Some of you might have fuzzy memories of shopping for groceries and other essentials at mom and pop stores—many of which are now long gone, driven out by national retailers and online shopping.
It seems most things today have become a bit impersonal, with many businesses prizing profits and page views over developing relationships with their patrons. So it’s nice to know there are still locally owned businesses like Big Country Electric Cooperative that, in addition to operating from a bedrock of stability, see you as a person, not an anonymous internet user.
Co-ops of all stripes celebrate National Cooperative Month each October, a fitting time to reflect on the reliability and resilience that these nonprofit businesses have historically displayed through wildly varied economic landscapes. Co-ops have continued to meet members’ needs while many profit-driven businesses have faltered.
By receiving electricity from the co-op, you’re not only a member but an owner of a business. You have a say in how the cooperative is run. If you attend the co-op’s annual meeting—and we hope you do—your voice rings loud and clear through the ballot box. Your vote helps elect fellow members to the board of directors to represent the cooperative’s membership as a whole.
The directors of Big Country EC are your neighbors and peers. They want what you want—affordable energy bills and to know the lights will turn on with the flip of a switch.
Big Country EC finds its foundation in a set of seven principles, like other cooperative businesses, and one of the most sacred of those tenets is Voluntary and Open Membership. Anyone who needs electricity within our service territory, regardless of race, religion, gender or economic circumstances, can become an owner of this co-op.
We’re proud to be a steward of this cooperative, this month and always. Thank you for sharing in that charge and for your membership.
