District 1 | Vince Moster

Vince Moster lives near Sunman with his wife, Marcy, and their three children, Keegan, Oliver and Lara.

During the past 12 years, Moster has served as a director for Southeastern Indiana REMC, is a credentialed cooperative director, and has served on the executive board as treasurer for three years and as secretary for three years. Moster has enjoyed learning about the cooperative business model and distribution of electricity. 

He is a graduate of Purdue University with a degree in agricultural mechanization and is currently lead project manager at Batesville Casket Company where he has worked for the past 22 years.  

Moster is currently on the Ripley County Farm Bureau board of directors and is a past member of the Morris Volunteer Fireman’s Board and the Saint Nicholas Parish Council. 

District 7 | Darrell Smith 

Darrell Smith is a self-employed farmer, raising beef cattle, hay and tobacco. He is also a licensed auctioneer in the states of Indiana and Kentucky. Smith and his wife, Michelle, are residents of Dow Ridge Road, Madison, in Milton Township, and are parents of one daughter and two sons. 

For over 38 years, Smith has served as a director for Southeastern Indiana REMC. He is a credentialed cooperative director and has received his board leadership certification. He served on the REMC executive board as president for four years, as vice president for two years and as secretary for 19 years. 

He is currently the president of the Macedonia Cemetery Association and a past board member of the Indiana Tobacco Growers Association, Jefferson County Extension Ag Council and the Farm Credit Services advisory board. He and his family attend the Macedonia Baptist Church. 

Smith believes that the number one priority of any director should be to serve the cooperative and its members to the best of his or her ability and to devote the time it takes to do this successfully. 

District 7: John Esmont 

John Esmont has been a member of Southeastern Indiana REMC for five years. His business experience includes maintenance management in the steel mill industry in Canton, OH, where he was accountable for equipment downtime, departmental budgeting and safety. 

Esmont has served on and chaired corporate committees, directed fundraising projects for the Canton Jaycees, and was the Incipient Fire Brigade Chief for Morton Salt. He has set budgets, implemented, and completed capital improvement projects. Additionally, he served four years on his church board in the 1990s, and served the boy scout organization as scoutmaster and assistant scoutmaster, scouting district committee enrollment chair and youth protection trainer. 

He holds degrees in electrical engineering from Stark State College and business management from Malone College. He has also received state and federal-level training on OSHA and environmental standards. 

Esmont believes the board should be focused on making our grid reliable; exploring options for additional power to meet demand and expanding the renewable energy within our area.

District 7 | Michael Watson

Michael Watson has been a member of Southeastern Indiana REMC for over 30 years. He owns a small farm and understands the importance of neighbors helping neighbors. His business experience includes 41 years in the manufacturing industry, serving as an industrial engineer and plant manager. 

Watson has served in leadership roles and given presentations in boardroom settings as well as town hall meetings. He has created budgets and has directed and coached employees as well as kids’ ball teams in the community. He has been involved in manufacturing-related projects, capital expenditures, workforce planning and HR policy writing. 

He holds an associate degree in industrial engineering from Cincinnati State College and a bachelor’s degree from Millikin University in organizational leadership. 

Watson believes the board should be focused on co-op improvement; ensuring that services are secure, reliable and cost-efficient. He is also interested in the co-op’s ability to meet the added demand for electric vehicles as they become more prevalent in the future. 

District 8 | Sherry Shaw 

Sherry Shaw has been a member of Southeastern Indiana REMC for 24 years. She has been married to her husband, Bert, for 39 years and they have two children and four grandchildren. 

Her business experience includes working within the Superior Court system in Jennings County as the administrative assistant for the probation department for over 25 years. Her past work history and hard work ethic have transferred positive energy into her personal and business experiences today. 

Shaw is a member of Bethel Baptist Church in North Vernon, Indiana, and a former member of Delta Theta Tau sorority. She also donates her time and financial support to several non-profit organizations in the community. 

She is a graduate of Jennings County High School and holds an associate degree from Ivy Tech Community College. 

Shaw believes the cooperative board should be focused on expanding its service territory to include rural areas that do not currently have access to its electric and internet services, exploring how cooperative incentives can be used to better serve the community, and keeping costs reasonable. 

District 8 | Travis Shepherd 

Travis Shepherd has been a member of Southeastern Indiana REMC for 27 years. His business experience includes 32 years with the Jennings County Probation Department as the director of community service/probation officer, and 25 years as a rental/investment property owner. 

Shepherd currently serves as vice president of the Area Plan Commission and is a current member of the school board, redevelopment commission and historical society – all in Jennings County. He previously served Jennings County as vice president of the board of zoning appeals, president of the emergency management advisory council, as well as a member of the drug and alcohol task force and the council on domestic violence. He has also served on the probation officer’s advisory board for the State of Indiana.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Indiana University and a master’s degree in management and leadership from Western Governors University.

Shepherd believes the cooperative board should be focused on adapting to changing regulations and uncertainty, delivery of broadband services efficiently and affordably, upgrading aging power grid/infrastructure, keeping municipal utilities from annexing rural co-op areas, and investigating and navigating partnerships with other cooperatives.