SCOTT CITY–For the third year in a row, Member Services at Wheatland Electric Cooperative, Inc., (WEC) has received national recognition in the 2024 Spotlight on Excellence Awards program, sponsored by the Council of Rural Electric Communicators (CREC) and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA).
WEC’s member services team received a Silver Award in Best External Event for our 75th anniversary celebration at the 2023 Annual Meeting and a second Silver Award for Best Wild Card, for a life-size historical display showcasing co-op history at the same event.
The 2023 event held April 26 in Scott City, Kansas, and in seven additional remote meeting locations across WEC’s service territory, was attended in record numbers by co-op members across southwest and central Kansas.
In this year’s NRECA Spotlight Awards, WEC competed with just under 180 other electric co-ops, representing nearly 40 out of 50 states, which made more than 800 submissions into various award categories.
The theme of WEC’s award-winning event – “Feel the Power” – reflected 75 years of shared cooperative history with the membership. WEC received its official charter from the Rural Electrification Administration in 1948.
Member Services, with the help of additional cooperative employees, put together a special publication and life-size historical display in Scott City reflecting the co-op’s many decades of service to community and rich history as part of the event. Both the publication and exhibit featured historical documents and artifacts. A copy of the special publication (our 2023 Annual Report) is available online.
“I am extremely proud of Member Services and the work they’ve done to catalogue and document our rich co-op history,” said Bruce W. Mueller, WEC’s CEO/general manager. “Because of their strong communication efforts, we will be able to share our Wheatland story and carry out our cooperative mission for decades to come.”
The communications team is led by Alli Conine, director of member services and corporate communications, and also includes the following staff members: Samantha Garcia and Mary Hoisington, both member services and key accounts managers; and Shajia Donecker, social media specialist.
The WEC employees will be recognized at the Connect Conference in Baltimore, Md., a national conference for communications and marketing professionals in the cooperative electric industry in early May. Donecker will accept the award and participate in this annual professional development opportunity.
