This month, I was honored to finish my term as the president of the Rural Electric Statewide Managers Association (RESMA). This group of 38 executives leading organizations across the country is dedicated to the advancement of electric cooperative members.
The statewide managers are an incredibly talented group of people with backgrounds as diverse as their states. We have different challenges, different political dynamics, and different energy portfolios. But we share a common goal of working together for the betterment of the 900 electric cooperatives in the United States.
In addition to the amazing opportunity to represent Oregon’s electric co-ops, one of the main attractions of becoming executive director of the Oregon Rural Electric Cooperative Association 13 years ago was working with statewide managers. It has become one of the most fulfilling professional partnerships I have experienced.
While I still consider myself the new guy in the RESMA group with much to learn, I will be the fourth-most senior statewide manager in the country at the end of this year. Where did that time go?
I want to thank my RESMA brothers and sisters for the privilege of holding the gavel for a year. Now that I am just another statewide manager at the end of the row, I plan to do a lot more listening than speaking. I may have been around the electric co-op program for a while—with more yesterdays than tomorrows—but I still have a lot to learn.
Executive Director Ted Case
