Northern Electric Cooperative recently received recognition in the national 2022 Spotlight on Excellence Awards program, sponsored by the Council of Rural Electric Communicators (CREC) and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA). Northern Electric received a Silver Award in the ‘Best External News Publication’ category for the Cooperative Connections magazine which is mailed to members every month.

“Communicating with members is crucial to the success of a cooperative,” Northern Electric CEO/General Manager Char Hager said. “We are honored that Cooperative Connections was selected as one of the top member news publications in the electric cooperative industry.”

Spotlight on Excellence award winners were recognized in Seattle during the first week of May during the CONNECT conference, which is a national conference for communications and marketing professionals.

The annual Spotlight on Excellence Awards program recognizes the best communication and marketing efforts by electric cooperatives and related organizations. Entrants competed with electric cooperatives of similar size in 18 different categories. More than 600 entries were submitted for the 2022 Spotlight on Excellence contest. Faculty members from the University of Missouri – Columbia and University of South Carolina, as well as noted professionals in the fields of marketing, web design, digital communications, and newspapers judged the event.

Northern Electric Cooperative Connections is mailed out to nearly 5,000 cooperative members every month to provide reliable, helpful information on electric cooperative matters and better rural living. Cooperative Connections received the Gold Award in the same category back in 2018.