Your cooperative leadership team has some exciting news as well as the latest details on a fun event that’s just days away!

When you opened this issue of Indiana Connection, you may have noticed that our logo has changed. Our previous logo has represented our company well, but as I have mentioned in past articles, the landscape of electric cooperatives is evolving. The focus will always be safe, reliable electricity, but we also need to explore programs to help the rural communities beyond electricity. Keeping this in mind, we felt the logo should reflect this expansion while taking on a fresh modern look.

A logo represents an organization’s strengths, core principles and values. The spiral in our new logo is symbolic of a cooperative’s unique attributes.  Each of the spiral’s lines has a purpose and when working together the lines form symmetry. Cooperatives are very similar. When co-ops work together, we can make great things happen for all rural communities.

The spiral shape and design relate to your cooperative in another way, too. Seven sets of lines make up the spiral. Each set of lines on the spiral represents one of the seven cooperative principles: from Democratic Member Control and Cooperation Among Cooperatives to our most practiced — Concern for Community. Because of these principles, your cooperative operates differently than other businesses. We put the needs of our member-consumers first. Each of the seven sets of lines has a different color to remind us that just as every line is important to the shape, each of the seven principles has a defined purpose in helping us empower the lives of our member-consumers and the communities we serve.

Before I go, I would like to remind you that your cooperative is celebrating 80 years of serving the community this month. Join us at the annual meeting on June 18 at the Porter County Expo Center in Valparaiso to commemorate this grand accomplishment. This year’s event will be open house style, allowing you to come when you want and stay as long as you’d like. You must register at the event to be eligible for the cash prizes and grand prize drawing, but you don’t need to be present to win. The doors open at 4:30 p.m. and the registration table closes at 7 p.m. Also, if you didn’t get a chance to vote in the board of directors’ election by mail or online, you can vote at the annual meeting.

The early days of summer are often a busy time. But hopefully you can kick off your summertime fun at the annual meeting.