Rich Drews has been a Team Midwest fixture for 38 years, most recently in the role of line layout technician. But on Sept. 14 he started wearing a new hat as the safety and loss control director. “We added this new role in recognition of the increasing need for coordinated safety training for our employees, safety oversight of the many contract crews working for [...]
Matt Soderquist (left in photo above), a director on Great Lakes Energy’s (GLE) People Fund Board, tackled the very first “Mighty Mac” swim across the Straits of Mackinac on Labor Day this year to raise funds for Habitat for Humanity. “The effort was a success,” GLE reports in its September Envision newsletter. Collectively, the elite group of over 80 swimmers raised $320,454 for the [...]
Help the cause, and look good doing it! In November, several Michigan co-op employees will travel to Guatemala to bring electricity to remote villages. The work being done to electrify Guatemala is supported solely through voluntary donations of time, skills, money and materials. Show your support by purchasing Partners for Power clothing through our wearables campaign. All proceeds benefit the trip. Shirts are available in four styles [...]
Cloverland Electric Co-op members will make an important decision on Oct. 15 - whether to become member-regulated. “Your co-op’s board of directors consists of members whom you elect to set the policies that guide our operations. At present, decisions on rates and billing charges are not controlled by your elected board, but by the MPSC in Lansing,” Cloverland CEO Dan Dasho told members in [...]
Great Lakes Energy (GLE) is now the fifth Michigan electric co-op to offer the ACRE Co-op Owners for Political Action® program to its members. Other co-ops that currently offer ACRE involvement are Cherryland, HomeWorks Tri-County, Thumb and Midwest Energy. “The ACRE Co-op Owners for Political Action program is an exciting opportunity for you to raise your voice and participate in the political process,” Great [...]
Frank Siepker Frank Siepker Jr., engineering and operations manager for Cherryland Electric Cooperative, was recently named to the “40Under40” list of most influential people in the Traverse City area. Each September, the Traverse City Business News spotlights 40 local professionals – all under the age of 40 – who shine in their professions and as champions of community causes. Describing his proudest [...]
Picture-perfect weather created a great backdrop for Midwest Propane’s first annual “Fueling the Fight Family Movie Night” in August. “Hundreds of guests joined us under the stars at the Cass County Council on Aging for a variety of activities to raise money for the West Michigan Cancer Center,” reports Patty Nowlin, communications director for Midwest Energy Cooperative. Gathered around a giant outdoor movie screen [...]
Earlier this year, Sen. Mike Nofs, chairman of the Senate Energy & Technology Committee, invited Michigan electric co-ops to weigh-in on the state’s current energy statutes and plans regarding renewable energy, contained in House Bill 438. Representing the co-ops, Art Thayer, energy efficiency programs director for the Michigan Electric Cooperative Association (MECA), testified on Sept. 2, with a particular focus on geothermal energy. “We [...]
At 2 a.m. on Aug. 6, Kyle Folgmann, a power quality technician for Cherryland Electric Cooperative, was heading home after a long day of after-storm restoration work when a drunk driver speeding at over 100 mph passed his truck. Kyle saw the scene unfold as the driver lost control, clipped several light poles, hit the Northern Michigan College sign, and stopped by hitting a [...]
Photo: Emily Kurburski was Great Lakes Energy’s representative to the 2015 Rural Electric Youth Tour (front row, third from left) and has received a generationOn grant from NRECA for a community service project. Emily Kurburski, a member of Great Lakes Energy, has received a 2015 generationOn grant from the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA). One of 23 winners, the 18-year-old Kurburski won the [...]
