Blue Ridge Electric Director Prepares for the Future

Lenoir, NC (March 29, 2010) - Sandra Hicks, director of member services for Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation, has completed an intensive program in electric utility management with the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

The Robert I. Kabat Management Internship Program (MIP) is a series of workshops offered by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) in conjunction with the University of Wisconsin. The program guides participants through all facets of the electric utility industry, including the many changes occurring around the nation.

MIP participants go through three 10-day sessions designed to challenge and educate participants in new, innovative management techniques. Only top level management of electric cooperatives participate in the MIP program. This allows greater emphasis of study, on management challenges and the aspects of consumer-ownership that cooperatives operate upon.

Hicks is also a graduate of Gardner-Webb University with a bachelor’s of science degree in business administration.

Blue Ridge Electric is a member-owned electric cooperative serving some 73,000 members in Caldwell, Watauga, Ashe, Alleghany, Alexander, Avery and Wilkes counties.