Every October, cooperatives across the country celebrate Cooperative Month. At Wayne-White Counties Electric Cooperative, it is an opportunity to recognize something our members experience all year long -- the difference that comes from being served by an organization that is owned by the people it serves.
Wayne-White Electric Cooperative is not owned by distant investors or shareholders. We are owned by the members who receive electricity from our lines. Our board members are elected by those members, and the decisions we make are centered around providing safe, reliable and affordable electricity while doing what is best for the people and communities we serve.
But being a local electric cooperative means something more, too.
It means the people answering your calls, maintaining your power lines, engineering improvements to our system, keeping our equipment running and working behind the scenes -- are not just Wayne-White Electric employees.
They are your neighbors.
We Live Here, Too
Many Wayne-White Electric employees are also Wayne-White Electric members. they live along the same roads, send their children to the same schools, shop at the same businesses and attend the same community events as the members they serve.
When severe weather moves through southern Illinois, our employees are not watching the storm from afar. Their homes and families may be affected, too. When a local school celebrates a big win, when a community organization needs volunteers or when someone down the road needs a helping hand, chances are you will find members of the Wayne-White Electric family there.
That connection to our communities does not end when the workday does.
Across our service territory, Wayne-White Electric employees give their time to organizations that help make our communities stronger.
We have employees that serve their communities as volunteer firefighters, answering the call when their neighbors need them most. They also serve on Boards of Education, helping guide the schools that educate the next generation.
There are also employees that serve on their county boards or local Chambers of Commerce, working alongside other local leaders and businesses to help their communities move forward.
On evenings and weekends, you might find several of our employees in a gym, at a ball field, on the golf course, or on the sidelines, volunteering their time to coach young athletes.
And we even have employees are veterans who have served our country and continue to serve their communities here at home.
Those are only a few examples.
Throughout Wayne-White Electric Cooperative, our employees serve on boards and committees, volunteer with local organizations, support community events, coach youth teams and step up when their neighbors need help.
They do it not because it is part of their job description, but because these are their communities, too.
Neighbors Serving Neighbors
That is an important part of what the cooperative difference looks like.
Of course, our primary responsibility is providing electricity. Every day, Wayne-White Electric Cooperative employees are working to maintain thousands of poles and miles of electric line, improve reliability, manage vegetation, upgrade equipment, invest in technology and prepare our electric system for the needs of tomorrow.
But our commitment to the communities we serve goes beyond poles and wires.
As a cooperative, Concern for Community is one of the seven principles that guides what we do. For us, that is not simply something printed on a list of cooperative principles. It is something we see demonstrated by our employees every day.
It is visible when our employees visit schools and community events to teach children about electrical safety.
It is there when we support local organizations, schools and programs throughout our service territory.
It is there when employees volunteer their own time to serve on local boards, coach a team, respond to an emergency or help organize an event.
And it is there in the way our employees approach their jobs each day.
When you are serving people you know -- sometimes friends, relatives and neighbors -- the work becomes personal.
More Than a Place to Work
There is something special about being able to drive through our service territory and see more than poles, substations and electric lines.
We see home.
We see the communities where our employees grew up. The schools their children attend. The ball fields where they played and now coach. The churches, organizations and community groups that bring people together.
We also see the members who built this cooperative and continue to own it today.
Nearly nine decades ago, local people came together to bring electricity to rural areas that investor-owned utilities were not willing to serve. They believed their neighbors could accomplish something extraordinary by working together.
A lot has changed since then. The electric system has become more complex. Technology has advanced. The ways our members use electricity have changed dramatically.
But that original idea has not.
Local people working together to make their communities better.
That is still at the heart of Wayne-White Electric Cooperative.
During Cooperative Month, we are proud to celebrate the business model that makes Wayne-White Electric Cooperative different. But we are even more proud of the people who bring that model to life.
Throughout the workday, our employees strive to provide high-quality customer and electric service to our members, and they spend their spare time serving their communities in so many various ways.
That is why Wayne-White Electric Cooperative is more than an electric utility.
We are your friends. We are your neighbors. We are your fellow members.
And we are proud to serve the communities we call home.