May is Military Appreciation Month

Ser­vice. Mis­sion. Coun­try. You like­ly iden­ti­fied imme­di­ate­ly (and cor­rect­ly) that these three words describe our nation’s vet­er­ans.  They also suc­cinct­ly describe a core co-op ethos.

While vet­er­ans are innate­ly moti­vat­ed to serve, in a sim­i­lar vein, elec­tric co-ops are guid­ed by foun­da­tion­al prin­ci­ples that put their com­mu­ni­ty first.  After all, elec­tric co-ops were found­ed to bring elec­tric­i­ty to rur­al areas where there was none.  In doing so, they pow­ered local economies and helped them to thrive.  I believe this close con­nec­tion to an essen­tial mis­sion is why there are so many vet­er­ans in the util­i­ty indus­try and why they are such a great fit for elec­tric co-ops.

Today’s vet­er­ans are high­ly skilled because every­one who joins the mil­i­tary is either trained in a tech career field or exposed to advanced tech­nol­o­gy dur­ing their years of ser­vice.  Many vet­er­ans have skills in advanced dis­ci­plines such as engi­neer­ing, elec­tron­ics or mechan­ics, which are all ben­e­fi­cial for the util­i­ty indus­try.

Lead­er­ship and Team­build­ing Skills
Our vet­er­an col­leagues joined the co- op equipped with train­ing in lead­er­ship and team­work. That’s because while on active duty with­in their units, ser­vice­men work close­ly togeth­er because they know their lives depend on each other’s actions. This fos­ters a high lev­el of self-dis­ci­pline, sense of per­son­al respon­si­bil­i­ty and pas­sion for excel­lence.

The util­i­ty indus­try is increas­ing­ly com­plex and under­go­ing pro­found trans­for­ma­tion. While there is the tra­di­tion­al engi­neer­ing and veg­e­ta­tion man­age­ment aspect of the util­i­ty indus­try, it now also encom­pass­es tech­nol­o­gy, cyber­se­cu­ri­ty and the elec­tri­fi­ca­tion of the trans­porta­tion sec­tor and oth­er areas of the econ­o­my. Vet­er­ans are adept at respond­ing to chang­ing con­di­tions and learn­ing and adapt­ing to new tech­nolo­gies, which is essen­tial in our evolv­ing indus­try.

Mis­sion-ori­ent­ed Out­look
Work­ing for an elec­tric co-op is more than a job. There is a clear mis­sion in the work–– to help our con­sumer-mem­bers and the com­mu­ni­ty. When you work so close­ly with the com­mu­ni­ty, you can’t help but feel a sense of com­mit­ment and respon­si­bil­i­ty to our mem­bers. It’s sim­i­lar to the sense of duty and respon­si­bil­i­ty that vet­er­ans expe­ri­ence in the mil­i­tary. They feel deep, per­son­al respon­si­bil­i­ty and com­mit­ment to their co-op team mem­bers and to the mem­bers we serve. Vet­er­ans are trust­wor­thy, goal ori­ent­ed, want­i­ng to do right for their co-op and their com­mu­ni­ty.

May is Mil­i­tary Appre­ci­a­tion Month and at Coastal Elec­tric Coop­er­a­tive we are grate­ful to have vet­er­ans with­in our ranks and we are proud to serve them and their fam­i­lies with­in our  com­mu­ni­ty. But beyond our grat­i­tude, we demon­strate our deep appre­ci­a­tion through our actions and ongo­ing com­mit­ment to vet­er­ans and their fam­i­lies.

At the nation­al lev­el, elec­tric co-ops sup­port the “Vets Pow­er Us” pro­gram, which is aimed at employ­ing and hon­or­ing vet­er­ans and their fam­i­lies. This effort involves part­ner­ing with  oth­er elec­tric co-ops across the coun­try along with the Depart­ment of Labor, the Depart­ment of Defense, the Vet­er­ans Admin­is­tra­tion and oth­ers to hire vet­er­ans in the ener­gy  indus­try.

May is Mil­i­tary Appre­ci­a­tion Month, and I hope you’ll join me in rec­og­niz­ing the sac­ri­fices vet­er­ans have made to our great country––and the many con­tri­bu­tions they con­tin­ue to  make to our won­der­ful com­mu­ni­ty. Vet­er­ans, we salute you!