Commitment
What are you committed to? A coworker of mine used to joke that marriage is an institution — everyone thinking about it should be committed. It’s a groaner of a dad joke, but it’s true that marriage is a commitment. Committing to something like marriage is a big deal and should never be taken lightly. That word, “commitment,” has a strong connotation of a lasting bond not easily broken.
This February, Julie and I will celebrate 30 years of committed marriage. Looking back, I’ve learned a lot about commitment — not only through my marriage, but also professionally. I’ve learned that you follow through on what you promise and when, inevitably, things get tough you still honor that promise. Great, but what does commitment have to do with Union Rural Electric Cooperative (URE)?
Well, let’s start with our mission. “URE is committed to making a difference in our community by delivering safe, high quality, reliable energy to our members and communities at fair prices.” It sounds simple but it’s a balancing act. Safety, reliability, and affordability are all completely different attributes that we are committed to delivering. Also, notice there’s nothing in that mission statement about maximizing shareholder value or making a profit. That’s because we don’t have shareholders; we have members like you who use URE’s energy and benefit from being part of the cooperative.
I often like to point out that cooperatives have 4 key values — Integrity, Accountability, Innovation, and Commitment to the Community. There’s that word again. What is a commitment to the community? What does that mean? We were formed by the rural Union County community to provide electric service when for-profit companies just wouldn’t or couldn’t do it. Of course, our priority is on the community, as we owe our existence to the community. By being committed to, and participating within, the community we serve, we can make it a better place.
Our commitment to community-led to URE’s Operation Round-Up program, which allows our members to “round up” their bills to the nearest dollar, with donations going to independent charitable organizations doing good in our community. Commitment to Community has also led to URE’s youth scholarship program and partnerships with local schools to positively impact the students in our community through internships and volunteer work by our committed employees.
1 of our committed employees, Sue Gibson, is moving on to retirement after dedicating the last 18 years of her professional career to helping URE tell our story to members and our community. She’ll be enjoying a much-deserved active retirement, traveling the country with her husband. The high quality of the magazine, our social media presence, and our website are a testament to her long-term commitment to quality and clarity in our messaging. Laura Hutchins will carry on the tradition of excellent communication and continue moving us forward in this area. Laura, another committed employee, has been with URE for 7 years, serving as a senior member services rep, while raising a family on a small farm with her husband and four children — all while coaching and advising community youth.
URE is strong because of our people — both our members and our employees — and those people are committed to their community and to URE’s mission. Our commitment to you is strong because we’re YOUR electric cooperative.