Blue Ridge Electric Board
of Directors Add Additional Caldwell District Seat
2002 Election to Determine Additional Director
For Immediate Release
Contact: Renee R. Whitener, Director of Corporate Communications, Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation, Phone: (828) 758-2383; Pager: 1-800-471-1323; E-mail: Renee Whitener
Lenoir, North Carolina (November 21, 2001) – The Board of Directors of Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation has announced a change to the cooperative’s bylaws to add an additional seat on the Board to join the two current director positions representing Caldwell District.
Caldwell District is a growing service area of Blue Ridge Electric, currently representing approximately 23% of the cooperatives’ membership of over 63,000 member-accounts in northwest North Carolina. In addition to Caldwell County, the cooperative also serves Watauga, Ashe, and Alleghany counties, as well as portions of Wilkes, Avery, and Alexander counties.
“The additional directors’ seat will ensure adequate representation for the growing number of members in Caldwell County,” said Johnnie Austin, president of Blue Ridge Electrics’ Board of Directors. “Caldwell District had previously been represented by three directors until 1997, when former board member James McNeil retired,” Austin explained. “At that time the Board did not replace his position, but since then, we have agreed that due to growth in membership, there is a need to add back the third seat for Caldwell District and we have voted to change the bylaws to reflect this addition.”
The additional seat will raise the number of directors for Blue Ridge Electric to 12. Currently representing Caldwell District are Jeff Joines and Oren Teague.
Candidates for the new director position will be nominated by the appointed Nominating Committee, which will meet in March, 2002, to nominate candidates for open seats in all districts, including the new seat in Caldwell. In addition, director candidates can be nominated by petition. The new Caldwell director will be determined during the election held during the 2002 Annual Membership Meeting on June 8.
For more information on the Caldwell District Board of Directors’ seat, contact Beverly Finney, Senior Vice President, Public and Employee Relations, at (828) 758-2383.
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