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Member-owners of Arrowhead Cooperative gathered for the Cooperative’s Annual Meeting on Saturday, June 5, 2021. The meeting was held outside on the ISD 166 football field for the first time, and beautiful weather and a great turnout made the event a success.
During the meeting, CEO John Twiest presented highlights from the 2019 and 2020 Co-op’s financial reports since an annual meeting was not held in 2020 due to the pandemic. Overall, the cooperative is in sound financial condition, as evidenced by strong kWh sales, good margins, and continued growth.
Twiest emphasized the challenges the COVID- 19 pandemic brought the community and how the team rose to the occasion and turned those into opportunities. The cooperative worked with the community to ensure that all teachers, students, and local businesses had internet access as quickly as possible and provided free access in downtown Grand Marais. The crucial connection electricity and broadband provides increased demand for the Cooperative’s services and employees worked harder than ever to meet members’ needs.
In addition, the Cooperative continued regular construction and maintenance activities to ensure reliable service proactively, and they focused on positioning for the future. As far as the future goes, the Co-op purchased land for future potential projects like local solar production and battery storage, received the telecommuter forward designation, and applied for funds from the FCC to expand broadband services in Cook County. The Co-op has also focused on improving transparent and meaningful communications with members through their newsletter and by building a new website that launches this week.
Twiest presented Arrowhead’s Member Service Manager Sara McManus and Communication Consultant Amanda Groethe from Fuller Creative with the National Rural Electric Association’s spotlight on Excellence Silver Award for Best Newsletter.
The biggest news of the event was the launch of the brand refresh for the Cooperative. The Co-op has changed and grown over the years and is refreshing its brand to better reflect who they are. After careful consideration, the Co-op chose a new logo that intentionally clarifies the services it provides and honors its legacy while revitalizing its image as a modern and adaptable utility provider.
Twiest shared, “With a strategic planning session on the horizon and the need to unite the two division of our business (electric and broadband) under one single, strong, and consistent look, it was an ideal time to update our logos to best represent who we are and where we are going in the future.”
The logo updates aren’t the only visual change the Co-op made; a revamped website launches later this week. “As a consumer-focused and member-owned cooperative, it’s important for us to make our services and programs easily accessible. With user experience and access in mind, the website has a new design featuring a clean, fresh look, with responsive views for both mobile and desktop users. We’ve also improved the structure of our content, making it faster and more intuitive to find the information you need,” Twiest stated.
Finally, in addition to the visual updates to the brand, the Co-op is changing the name of True North Broadband to Arrowhead Broadband.
The meeting concluded with the Co-op Board of Directors election results.
There were 418 total votes.
In District 2, Donna Lunke received 296 votes to 120 for Howard Hedstrom. Mike Littfin in District 4 and Stan Tull in District 5 both ran unopposed, and each received 333 votes.
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