LAFAYETTE-A good crowd enjoyed Tri-County Electric’s Annual Meeting earlier this month here at the cooperative’s home office, where the lucky winner of the $100 to start the event was Ms. Betty Choate.

Ron Alan Powell, Lafayette District Director, welcomed everyone to the meeting, followed by the Invocation from Russell Cherry, Manager of Purchasing. The Reading of Notice and Proof of Mailing, and presentation of the minutes was then read by Greg Traylor, Board Attorney. 

Paul Thompson, Tri-County Electric CEO, thanked the members for their attendance and support of the cooperative business model, stating that “as a member of Tri-County Electric, you are not just a consumer, you are an owner of the cooperative.”

He also reported the cooperative’s growth during the past 26 years has been more than twice the growth of the previous 62 years, and said “we continue to look for better ways to design, engineer, construct and maintain the distribution system.”

Thompson recognized the employees for their intelligence, dedication, and commitment to serving the cooperative’s membership and highlighted the cooperative’s 99.9% reliability and focus on supporting quality of life improvements through the support of school-based activities, civic groups, and economic development efforts.

Additionally, he reported on Tri-County Electric’s strong financial position and announced the cooperative’s plans for more than fourteen million dollars of system improvements in this coming year.

Besides the cash prize, Tri-County Electric gave away gift certificates at each of the 10 Member Appreciation Days and Kendall, Tri-County’s right of way contractor, also gave away gift cards at each event, where attending members received an oven mitt and enjoyed refreshments provided.

As required by the Tri-County Electric Bylaws, a meeting of the Board of Directors was held immediately following the Annual Meeting. 

Officers elected included Mark Linkous, District E (Edmonton), President; Travis Carter, District W (Westmoreland), Vice-President; and Mike Miller, District S (Scottsville) Secretary-Treasurer.

“We appreciate everyone that made the effort to attend our Member Appreciation Days and Annual Meeting and were glad to connect with almost 700 members over the last month!” Tri-County officials said.  “If you missed out this year, please watch for the announcements in April 2025 for our schedule of meeting dates.”