National Awards Presented to Blue Ridge Electric
Contact: Renee Whitener, Director of Public Relations, Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation, (828) 758-2383, Ext. 3213; or E-mail: Renee Whitener
Lenoir, North Carolina (June 3, 2009, 2009) – Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation recently received three national awards recognizing excellence in communications from the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA). The awards were part of NRECA’s annual Spotlight on Excellence program recognizing effective communication and marketing programs.
Blue Ridge Electric received a merit award in the Best Total Communications category for its “Capital Credits and Annual Report” communications program. Renee Whitener, director of public relations, coordinated the program. A second award of merit was received in the Best Electronic Communications category for the cooperative’s web banner for the “Our Energy/Our Future” energy legislation update. Susan Simmons, communications manager, coordinated the project. A third award of merit was received in the Best Video/DVD category for the cooperative’s employee recruitment video “Just Follow the Energy”. Whitener, Simmons, and Julie O’Dell-Michie, vice president of human resources and administration, coordinated the project.
“The judges’ descriptions of this year’s entries ranged from ‘extraordinary’ to ‘impressive,” said Maggie Tilley, administrator of Spotlight on Excellence. “The consistent comment was that consumers are being well-served by communications that seek to inform and to add value for co-op members.”
Electric cooperative communicators and marketing professionals submitted more than 744 entries in the Spotlight on Excellence program, now in its 21st year. Faculty members from the University of Missouri – Columbia and the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill judged the entries.
The Spotlight awards competition is an annual event recognizing the top-rated communication and marketing efforts by electric cooperatives and related organizations.
Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation is a not-for-profit, member-owned electric cooperative serving some 73,000 members in Caldwell, Watauga, Ashe, Alleghany, Alexander, and Wilkes counties.
