Woodruff to Retire from Blue Ridge Electric Board of Directors - Nominations Now Being Considered for Alleghany Representation
For Immediate Release
Contact: Renee Whitener, Director of Public Relations, Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation, (828) 758-2383, Ext. 3213; Pager: 1-800-471-1323; or E-mail: Renee Whitener
Sparta, North Carolina (March 14, 2007) – John Woodruff, long time director of Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation and president since 2002, is retiring from the board of directors effective June 9, the date of the cooperative’s 2007 Annual Membership Meeting. He will have served on the board for 39 years when he completes his current term.
As president of Blue Ridge Electric, Woodruff serves as chairman of all board meetings and provides leadership to policy development, strategic direction, and is involved in all committees of the board. Prior to serving as president, Woodruff served as the cooperative’s vice president and assistant secretary treasurer.
Woodruff also represents Blue Ridge Electric and other statewide electric cooperatives as a board member of the North Caroline Electric Membership Corporation and is a nationally credentialed cooperative director.
Woodruff is retired as superintendent of Alleghany County Schools, where he also worked as a teacher and principal early in his career. His devotion to education led him to create the Alleghany Education Foundation to support scholarship funds and provide school grants to promote SAT improvement. A graduate of Appalachian State University (ASU) with a Master of Arts degree in administration and social studies, Woodruff was honored by ASU in 2002 with induction into the Reich College of Education’s Rhododendron Society. The designation honors ASU graduates whose service to education has been exemplary.
At their meeting on March 29, Blue Ridge Electric’s Nominating Committee will select one or more nominees for Woodruff’s Alleghany District board seat as well as nominees for three other board seats in the cooperative’s other directorate districts which are up for election this year: Ashe, Caldwell, Watauga. The list of nominees will be posted in each Blue Ridge Electric office.
In addition to nominations made by the cooperative’s Nominating Committee, members can have their name placed on the ballot through the nomination by petition process. The cooperative’s by-laws require that nominations by petition be made at least 60 days prior to the Annual Membership Meeting (being held June 9 this year) and be signed by 15 or more cooperative members, with each signing his or her name as it appears on their electric bill. Deadline for nominations by petition is April 10. Nominees by petition will also be posted in each of the cooperative’s offices after the deadline date.
The following are qualifications to serve as a director of Blue Ridge Electric:
- Must be receiving electric service from Blue Ridge Electric at their primary residence
- Must not be a close relative of an incumbent director or of an employee of the cooperative
- Must not have had their membership suspended at any time during the 12 months preceding the annual meeting
- Must be at least 18 years old
- Must not be employed by or in a position to financially gain from a competing enterprise of the cooperative or its subsidiary, or a business selling electric energy or supplies to the cooperative
- Must not have been employed with the cooperative for the previous six years if a nominee is a former cooperative employee
Complete, detailed information on serving as a cooperative director and the nomination by petition process can be found in the cooperative’s by-laws which are available at any Blue Ridge Electric office or on the internet at www.BlueRidgeEMC.com.
Information about all board nominees will be mailed during late May to every Blue Ridge Electric member. Board members will be elected by a vote of the membership during the Annual Membership Meeting to be held Saturday, June 9, at Ashe County High School in West Jefferson.
Members interested in more information about the Alleghany district directorate seat should contact Julie O’Dell-Michie, vice president, human resources and administration, by calling 372-4646, extension 3202.
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