I’ll be retiring at the end of the year, full of gratitude for the opportunities and experiences my time with OEC has provided.
Going back to our beginning, every leader of this organization has been distinctly different from the last. We’ve all had our own personalities, our own priorities, and our own approaches to the issues of the day. While none of us has been perfect, each has been the right person at the right time for the needs of the organization.
Bill Stuckey, for example, had been a national leader in the farm safety movement while working for Ohio State University’s Extension Service, and that culture of safety became his enduring legacy as the first executive manager of Ohio Rural Electric Cooperatives, Inc. Or Howard Cummins, who championed the creation of a monthly co-op magazine — this magazine, now in its 67th year of publication — and oversaw the formation of Buckeye Power the very next year.
Bob Cleveland, Dick Byrne, and Tony Ahern held the position before I became CEO in 2015, and I like to think all of us have had a hand in the success of our organization. We’ve done a good job of promoting and nurturing unity among Ohio’s electric cooperatives. We’ve built a solid foundation of trust among our membership and grown a national reputation for being strong advocates for electric cooperatives.
This will be my last column in these pages, as I’ll be retiring at the end of the year, full of gratitude for the opportunities and experiences my time with Ohio’s Electric Cooperatives has provided. I would like to think I’ve added to the legacy and the durability of our cooperative network by helping to build a strong, resilient, and adaptable team that is prepared for the challenges and the opportunities that the future will bring.
I’m confident in the co-op’s future and the leadership team that will be in place. Our board made the wise and well-considered decision to elevate Craig Grooms to become the organization’s seventh chief executive.
Craig, like all of his predecessors, is a different leader than those before him, and he will have his own way of doing things. Change is always a bit unsettling, but it’s also healthy, and now seems like the right time for a new approach. There are new challenges and opportunities ahead, and I’m sure that the team here at Ohio’s Electric Cooperatives will be ready to serve your interests.
Thank you and farewell.
