Blue Ridge Electric Board President Elected To National Insurance Board
For Immediate Release
Contact: Renee Whitener, Director of Corporate Communications, Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation, (828) 758-2383 ext. 3213; Pager:1-800-471-1323; or E-mail: Renee Whitener
Lenoir, North Carolina (April 28, 2000) – Johnnie Austin, president of the Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation board of directors, has been elected to serve on the board of directors of Federated Rural Electric Insurance Exchange.
Federated is a cooperative insurance company and is the leading provider of property and casualty insurance for electric utility cooperatives in 38 states. The company also serves a growing number of telephone systems throughout the United States.
The Federated board of directors is comprised of 20 members, with each member democratically elected by qualifying cooperatives from each of the 10 regions of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. Austin represents Region I, which is comprised of 13 states from New York to North Carolina.
Austin has served on the Blue Ridge Electric board since 1970. Blue Ridge Electric is a not-for-profit electric cooperative serving 60,000 members in Alleghany, Ashe, Caldwell, and Watauga counties. Its subsidiary, Blue Ridge Energies, provides propane, heating fuels, and commercial gasoline from offices in Lenoir, Morganton, Boone, and West Jefferson.
