Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Mecklenburg Electric Cooperative (MEC) has been awarded first place in the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) Spotlight on Excellence Awards program that recognizes leading communication practices for more than 800 electric cooperatives across the nation. MEC received the recognition for its entry in the category, Best Total Communication Plan. 

The entry documented MEC’s efforts, during the past two years, to acquire the Buggs Island Telephone Cooperative’s (BIT) system by EMPOWER Broadband, Inc., to coordinate the deployment of ultra-high speed fiber broadband to communities served by MEC. The entry outlined, step by step, the process used to communicate the plan with BIT Members.

There are 16 different categories in the Spotlight on Excellence Awards program that reflect the wide scope and valuable contributions of cooperative communicators; and, unlike the other categories, the Best Total Communication Plan requires specific timelines be included based on conception and implementation.

The Spotlight on Excellence is a program of the Council of Rural Electric Communicators and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association and recognizes commendable work and shares best practices with the nation’s electric cooperative network. The program’s objective is to enhance the profession of cooperative communications by showcasing current, leading practices in a variety of forms of media. Sharing these practices enables the entire network to benefit from the work of top communicators.

As a result of COVID-19 restrictions, a virtual recognition and celebration was conducted and plaques were shipped to the recipients.