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In this column last month I wrote about the Seven Cooperative Principles that are shared by electric cooperatives, and reviewed the first four principles. This month I would like to go into more detail on the remaining three principles and what they mean to you as a member-owner of Farmers' Electric.

The fifth principle is Education, Training, and Information. It is our responsibility to report to the membership about our plans, operations, and programs. We do this through our Annual Meeting, surveys, and Rural Missouri magazine. We encourage high school juniors to learn more about cooperatives, and sponsor the winners of these contests to educational trips to Washington D.C. or to Jefferson City. We are also committed to sending your board and employees to training that will help them provide you with better service.

The sixth principle is Cooperation Among Cooperatives. There are over 900 electric cooperatives across the United States. Many years ago it was realized that we have more strength joining together for certain purposes than acting alone. Farmers' Electric is part of NW Electric in Cameron, which is responsible for transmitting electricity to seven distribution cooperatives in northwest Missouri. NW Electric is part of Associated Electric Cooperative, which generates the electricity for NW Electric and 5other transmission cooperatives in Missouri, Iowa and northeast Oklahoma. Farmers' Electric also belongs to the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) which provides us with many services that we could not do alone; and to the National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation (CFC) which provides us with financing to build and upgrade our electric facilities at a better rate than we could find on the open market.

The most visible example of this principle of Cooperation Among Cooperatives is the mutual aid that is provided in times of need. Farmers' Electric has joined many other cooperatives in sending our line crews to help in Louisiana and Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina, to Texas after Hurricane Rita, and to southwest Missouri earlier this year after the devastating ice storm. We send that assistance to help those cooperatives get their members' power restored as soon as possible, and because it is the right thing to do. We do get reimbursed for our expenses, and we can rely on this help from other cooperatives should we ever find ourselves in the same situation.

The seventh principle is Concern for Community. Our board and employees live in the area that we serve, and we actively participate in the communities in our ser-vice area. Farmers' Electric is a Partner In Education at area schools, and regularly donates to help support area events. We have developed industrial parks in Chillicothe and Gallatin, which have brought hundreds of jobs to this area. Farmers' also created the Area Youth Benefit Fund (AYBF) to help pay the medical bills for children in our nine-county area.

I hope that these past two articles have given you a better idea of the principles that guide your cooperative. We have many challenges and tough decisions ahead of us, but we will remain committed to following the Seven Cooperative Principles.

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