COMMUNITY VIEWPOINT: A cooperative for Nevada

Each year, Valley Electric Association, Inc. (VEA), hosts a variety of community meetings in an effort to provide our members with in-depth information about our cooperative’s financial position and strategic business plans. These meetings also offer valuable opportunities to share information about VEA’s continued success, economic contributions and member-focused initiatives.

I would like to thank the many VEA members who participated in our six district meetings in March. As a cooperative utility, we recognize the importance of working alongside our member-owners and incorporating their feedback into our proactive business strategy. Our members have played a pivotal role in VEA’s recent growth, and we are grateful for their continued support and dedication.

While our district meetings have concluded, VEA’s largest and most eventful gathering of the year has yet to take place.

VEA will host its 2014 Annual Meeting on April 26 at Pahrump Valley High School, providing members with a valuable chance to learn more about VEA’s recent projects, member-focused programs and strategic vision for the future. To reflect VEA’s ongoing efforts to promote new economic opportunities for local communities and the state as a whole, the theme of this year’s annual meeting is “A Cooperative for Nevada.”

As many of our members know, VEA has experienced a great deal of success during the past year, including our strategic efforts to maintain rate stability for years to come. I invite all of our members to attend the Annual Meeting and support our shared mission to build a brighter future for our communities.

Our members recently received VEA’s 2013 Annual Report, which provides a comprehensive look at the cooperative’s financial position and business activity. The report is also available on VEA’s website at www.vea.coop. In addition to providing detailed financial information, this report highlights VEA’s community-focused initiatives and economic contributions to Nevada.

I encourage all of our members to read the Annual Report and attend our upcoming Annual Meeting. At VEA, we remain committed to keeping our members informed and engaged as we work to fuel economic growth throughout our region.

Tom Husted has served as the CEO of Valley Electric Association, Inc. since 2006. He has more than 30 years of experience in the utility industry across the Western United States, including more than 20 years as a CEO. Each monthly edition of VEA’s Ruralite magazine features a column from Husted, offering his thoughts about issues affecting the cooperative and the communities it serves.

These monthly columns are reprinted in the Pahrump Valley Times.