Dear Members,
It was great to see many of you again! Thank you for coming to our annual meeting. Here is a brief summary of the annual meeting and 2022 report of operations.
In our director elections, Jeff Osborn and Steven Jones were reelected to our board. Dwight Moe was elected to his first term, replacing longtime director Opal DeBoard, who chose to not run again.
In his candidate statement, Dwight said, “I am a third-generation farmer that has grown up in the Odell area for my entire life. I am semi-retired from the orcharding that I have done since I was able to drive a tractor. I managed my operation for the past 26 years for a farm that has been here since 1905. I would like to give my time to the patrons of Hood River Electric & Internet Co-op. My 18 years on the co-op board for Diamond Fruit has given me the ability to work with and understand how a co-op operates! I look forward to the opportunity to serve you. Feel free to reach out to me and visit.”
During the reports, we noted several staffing changes in 2022, including the retirement of longtime Office Manager Brenda Lewis after more than 36 years of service. We also welcomed four new employees:
Apprentice Lineman Corben Olson joined us in April. Corben was raised in the valley and attended Northwest Lineman College.
Accounting & Member Service Manager Jamie Leiblein joined us in June. Jamie is a Parkdale native who worked for the City of Hood River for nearly 2 decades.
Line Superintendent Brian Sharr joined us in June, bringing 27 years in the industry as a lineworker, foreman and operations manager.
Internet Installer Sadie Henderson joined us in August. Sadie is also from the area and brings a broad background to her role.
We reported that both our electric and our internet divisions made progress on important projects and had solid financial performances in 2022. Based on our operating results, our board of directors took action at its February 2023 meeting to allocate $401,082 in patronage capital for the electric division for 2022 and $255,286 in patronage capital for the internet division.
We also retired $1,093,147 in capital credits in 2022. We returned 100% of the remaining 2011 patronage capital allocation, 20% of the 2012 patronage capital allocation for electric division members and 50% of the 2017 patronage capital allocation for internet division members.
Thank you for the opportunity to serve you,
General Manager
Libby Calnon