October and Cooperatives

by Frank Stork

October is designated Cooperative Month and it is a good time to talk about member-owned cooperatives and the need to communicate effectively.

A cooperative is established to provide services needed by its members. The board of directors, which members elect, and the manager they hire have a responsibility to communicate with the members on a frequent basis. Cooperative members have a right to know what’s going on in the business that they own.

The electric cooperatives began publishing Rural Missouri 54 years ago as a statewide communications vehicle to electric cooperative members. While some of the cooperatives have their own member newsletter, most of them use the local pages of Rural Missouri to inform members of their cooperative business.

The original publishers of Rural Missouri made a commitment which still stands today. That commitment was to publish a high-quality publication which would result in high readership. After all, they said, if we have a responsibility to communicate with our cooperative members, we should take it seriously and do it right.

The commitment by Rural Missouri’s founders to produce a quality publication is felt even stronger by electric cooperatives today. Each year this publication is submitted to a panel of experts in journalism for professional review. Each year it receives high marks in all categories when competing with similar publications. The staff is also given individual recognition and awarded honors in all categories. At the same time, we are given suggestions on how to improve in areas where we do not achieve the highest rankings.

During Cooperative Month the special niche cooperatives fill in our free enterprise system is emphasized. Within cooperatives, we emphasize the unique and special obligation we have to communicate with our member-owners in a responsible and effective way.

When you pick up your Rural Missouri each month, think of it as your publication. It is designed to keep you informed about the cooperative business you own. If you think of it that way, you will keep writing to let us know how we can do our jobs better. We both like and need that communication from you.

Have a great fall and keep those cards, letters and e-mails coming.

Stork was executive vice president of the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives and a member of Three Rivers Electric Co-op.