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Co-ops Hang
Together Across This Great Country Benjamin Franklin put it eloquently during those trying times when America’s forefathers were struggling for freedom and independence. He understood how risky and perilous trying to overthrow an established ruling order would be. Therefore, he offered these words of caution for his associates. “We must all hang together, or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.” Franklin understood the value of “hanging together” and cooperating. It was the first value he saw when he organized the first cooperative in the country, the Philadelphia Contributorship for the Insurance of Homes from Loss of Fire. Today, more than 42 million Americans enjoy the same values as members of electric cooperatives. Electric cooperatives were established to pro-vide electricity to people living in rural communities. The idea of providing federal assistance to accomplish rural electrification took shape when President Franklin D. Roosevelt took office in 1933 and began his New Deal programs. After President Roosevelt created the Rural Electrification Administration (REA) in1935, electric cooperatives began to spread across the country. A year later, the passage of the REA Act marked the first steps in a public-private partnership. Your cooperative, Farmers’ Electric Cooperative, was founded September 2, 1938. The first member to receive electricity was the U.M. Babb family, whose home was located just east of Chillicothe. April 1, 1940, marked the first day the Babb’s began to receive power from their cooperative. We have grown to just over 10,000 strong, serving residential areas, large and small farms, as well as a variety of commercial operations. Currently, there are more than 900 electric cooperatives supplying power from fishing villages in Alaska to dairy farms in Vermont and the suburbs and ex-burbs in between. Electric cooperatives are different from other forms of business, and members of cooperatives notice this difference. Members elect their own board of directors. Members have the opportunity to receive capital credits. Members benefit from the many programs the cooperatives offer and are continuing to expand upon. Cooperatives put members first because the members are the owners. Co-ops are locally owned and operated, and are committed to providing safe, reliable power at the lowest possible cost.
This October, your electric cooperative is joining all types of cooperatives across the country in celebrating National Cooperative Month. Cooperatives are about neighbors helping neighbors. That is the simplest and best definition of a cooperative. “Hanging together” - that’s the cooperative difference. |
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