By Stephanie Bernaba  Elaine Smith’s face holds a thousand secrets, but one would never know it at first glance. Sitting unassumingly on a couch next to her greatest cheerleader and husband, Tom, one would think she’s sailed smoothly into retirement after a relatively docile life.  The Smiths took some time to discuss her life on… Continue reading.

By Veni Fields After the first cat café opened in Taiwan in 1998 and became a global tourist destination, they spread like a fertile field of catnip throughout Japan, England, and Canada. The first in the United States opened its doors in California in 2014, acting as a bridge between shelters and new homes for… Continue reading.

By Nicole Thomas Known as “The Home of the Classics,” DeKalb County in northeastern Indiana features four automotive museums honoring the county’s rich classic car heritage.  A century of pickling The town of St. Joe has celebrated its Pickle Festival every July since 2000. Featuring a variety of activities like a pickle-eating contest and a… Continue reading.

 When Ryan Stuthers was pursuing an electrical engineering degree at Anderson University, he wasn’t sure what type of electrical engineer he wanted to be. “There are a lot of avenues you can take in that career field,” he said.  Though he was exposed to most avenues, one he had never heard about was electric cooperatives…. Continue reading.

  By Natalie Derrickson If the reset you needed came with the promise of wine, pizza, and a gorgeous view, how long would it take you to pack up the car and go?  Most businesses are born when passion and an unmet need intersect. For Doug Holtkamp, that meant taking his winemaking hobby from a… Continue reading.

As harvest season ramps up in Indiana, farmers and their crews are busy moving equipment to and from the fields. This increased activity, however, raises the risk of accidents, especially involving electricity, cautioned Jon Elkins, vice president of safety, training and compliance at Indiana Electric Cooperatives.  “Combines and grain augers are large pieces of equipment,”… Continue reading.

When summer’s hottest days hit, the first thing you may want to do when you get home is turn the thermostat down a couple degrees. Throughout our region, thousands of others are responding the same way. Every air conditioner and fan starts working at full speed to keep everyone cool and comfortable. The end of… Continue reading.

Did you know PPEC is the first Ohio cooperative to shift our IT platform to the cloud? I wanted to share some exciting news about how we’re enhancing our IT infrastructure to better serve our nearly 14,000 members. I’ll try not to “geek out” as I share what we’ve been doing this past year. Our… Continue reading.

When it’s time to replace your home heating system, a heat pump may be your best option. Heat pumps have been around for decades, and in that time, the technology has come a long way. It’s easy to miss the full value of a heat pump, because the name doesn’t quite do it justice. The… Continue reading.

Nestled on the historic Lincoln Highway and powered by Paulding Putnam EC, Lincoln Ridge Farms is a testament to tradition, innovation, and family heritage. Established in 1919, the farm has been a cornerstone of the community for over a century, evolving from a Guernsey cattle farm into a vibrant destination for fresh produce and family… Continue reading.

We need your help to locate past PPEC members so they can receive the refunds due to them. A list of individuals and businesses that have unclaimed capital credits can be found on the co-op’s website, PPEC.coop/capital-credits, or by stopping into the office. These former members’ refunds were returned “undeliverable” by the U.S. Postal Service…. Continue reading.