CEO Corner

My very first memory of White River Valley Electric Cooperative took place when I was only eight years old. I went with my mom and dad to the Co-op’s Annual Meeting where my mom won a toaster. Later, our family would be featured in a Rural Missouri article showcasing our use of electric appliances. I grew up hearing stories of my grandpa signing an easement in 1937 so his farm could have electricity. The fact is that this Cooperative has been a part of my life’s story since the beginning.

After college, I moved to Iowa and worked briefly at a utility company, however, home was where my heart belonged. In 1985, I was given the opportunity to take on the role of Engineer in Training at WRVEC. Once I got to White River I didn’t want to leave. Throughout my 40-year career I was given so many opportunities to serve the membership in many ways. When I was named CEO in 1999 I made each decision with care because I knew they impacted you. I am proud of the technology we introduced to make your lives easier and the efforts we made to control spending to minimize the effect on your pocketbooks. I was lucky to lead a team of innovators with servants’ hearts for their neighbors.

In my new role of retiree, I look forward to spending more time with my wife, Amy, traveling and seeing where life’s adventures take us. I hope to run into you at the local grocery store, at church, or at an upcoming Branson High School football game. This community will always be my home, and this Cooperative will remain my electric provider. I was raised on these Cooperative’s lines, and I will stay connected to these roots I call “home”.

While I have had the opportunity to serve behind the podium of the Annual Meeting for the past 27 years as CEO, I will always remember the young boy who once sat in the meeting’s audience. I will forever be grateful for this journey and the people I met along the way. Serving my community and my neighbors in this role, while leading the best team in the Ozarks, has given me countless memories.

Thank you for this honor of a lifetime. It has been an amazing ride.