Directors elected at Craig-Botetourt’s Annual Meeting

Friday, 10 June 2011 20:15

Incumbent directors James E. Huffman and C.D Hypes were re-elected to three-year terms at Craig-Botetourt Electric Cooperative’s annual meeting Saturday, June 4.

Huffman, representing the co-op’s third district, ran unopposed while Hypes, the District 2 director, was elected from a field of four candidates.

Approximately 80 members, guests and friends of Craig-Botetourt Electric Cooperative were on hand for the meeting, held at the co-op’s New Castle office. Co-op attorney Steve Yost noted that a total of 1,204 co-op members were registered for the board election either in person or by proxy.

Co-op manager Shawn Hildebrand introduced special guests, including Del. Greg Habeeb of Salem, as well as former co-op manager Jerry Groseclose and his wife, Lois.

Board President Sam Clemons and Secretary-Treasurer James Huffman reported to the membership on the state of the cooperative.

Clemons extolled the reasonable cost and effective communications venue provided by Cooperative Living magazine. He also discussed the member-focused work ethic of the cooperative’s board and staff in ensuring reliable, cost-efficient provision of electricity.

Clemons encouraged cooperative members to become more involved in their business, and asked that members consider involvement in the co-op’s member-advisory committee and nominating committee.

In his secretary-treasurer’s report, Huffman noted that the cooperative had a successful year in 2010, with net margins of $1,005,652.

There were 7,563 cooperative connections in place as of Dec. 31, 2010, according to Huffman, and Craig-Botetourt Electric Cooperative retired $215,507 in capital credits for the year, he added.

“Serving you is our reason for being,” Huffman concluded.

In his general manager’s report, Shawn Hildebrand introduced the cooperative employees on hand, and noted that “These are the folks who make good things happen” for Craig-Botetourt Electric Cooperative member-consumers.

Hildebrand said that the cooperative board and management are very proud of the fact that there were no lost-time accidents in 2010. “This says a lot about the quality of our employees and their commitment to safety,” he added.

“Providing reliable service in our beautiful mountain area with lots of trees provides a constant challenge,” Hildebrand continued. “We used a helicopter in 2010 to help cut right-of-way on a mountainside. Our work plan always includes projects to enhance efficiency and reliability,” he said.

Following his remarks, Hildebrand presented co-op employee service awards. C.D. Hypes was cited for 30 years of service on the cooperative board, and Jennifer Crawford and Pete Birtsh were each recognized for 20 years of service to the cooperative.

Hildebrand also presented board resolutions to co-op line technicians Dustin Smith and Avery Dollinger for their stellar performances in the Gaff-N-Go Lineman’s Rodeo safety competition in April.