Communication – You Bet!
I’m sure you are curious about this new publication. As a member of Mohave Electric Cooperative (MEC), I was curious, too, when our communications and public affairs team presented the idea to me. What I saw was a new format for Currents that fit right in with our board and management goal to improve communication with our members.
We were already moving in this direction before the COVID-19 situation, but these past few months have demonstrated that more communication, using methods to reach more members, is the right path going forward.
Welcome to our new Currents publication. In each issue of Currents, you will find MEC news, information from Arizona’s rural electric cooperatives and interesting feature stories. You will receive the new magazine six times a year. The pages specific to MEC will remain the same in each issue.
In this July issue, the cover directs you to pages 4- 5 and information about MEC’s fiber broadband project. News about capital credits returned to members and MEC’s member assistance programs with River Fund is found on pages 8 and 25.
I am also pleased to announce we have added new social media channels. You can now follow MEC on Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn, as well as Facebook. This is another milestone in our communication improvement plan. Within the next few months, our website will be going through a major makeover. Stay tuned for that one.
Even with all these new things, you will still hear from us on a regular basis via bill inserts and messages, local print media and radio communication.
What matters most to us are our members and our community. During this difficult time, MEC has increased our programs to help members experiencing financial difficulty, and returned $1.3 million in capital credits to members. Involvement and investment in the community is a natural benefit of the cooperative business model. We’re locally based, live and work here, and are MEC members.
Through this pandemic, our employees have been there for you—in the field and in the office— making sure the lights stay on. I am proud of their dedication to respond day and night. We asked them to adapt to new and different ways of serving our members, and they did, while also having the same concerns for family, and dealing with the changes to daily life we all have experienced. Our employees have stepped up to make sure the power stayed on for all our members, allowing medical and first responder facilities to do their jobs, run their businesses and spend more time at home.
As we transition to businesses reopening and have fewer disruptions to our everyday lives, we remain committed to our community—as individuals and as Mohave Electric Cooperative. We’re here, keeping the lights on.