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January 2008 Along Those Lines
Powering the new frontier
The new frontier ahead of us will be all about choices, futurist Lowell Catlett told the 300-plus annual meeting attendees.
Electric cooperative leaders take a look at tomorrow’s challenges
A noted futurist, an advertising executive, a former Indiana House speaker and a national electric cooperative association government relations staff member took a peek at tomorrow last month — and shared their insights. All were speakers at the 73rd Annual Meeting of the Indiana Statewide Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives, Inc. Over 300 electric co-operative leaders from throughout the state attended the meeting, held Dec. 6-7, 2007, in Indianapolis.
The gathering, which combines educational seminars with association business, is the highpoint of the year for the state’s 39 electric cooperatives.
Themed “Forward to the Future, Pioneering a New Frontier,” the meeting offered interesting reflections of what lies ahead.
With a provocative and entertaining keynote address, Lowell Catlett outlined the new frontiers changing the world and how electricity has powered it and will continue powering it.
Futurist Catlett, a dean at New Mexico State University, said the new frontier is about choice. “Give me what I want, when I want it, where I want it,” he said. Electric cooperatives, he said, will need to be there to provide this access.
The edges of this new frontier are being pushed by the world’s economic prosperity, Catlett said. For the first time worldwide, people are rising beyond simply meeting life’s basic needs. They’re living in what he calls “dream space,” where they have the time and excess money to fully pursue their dreams.
He cited the economic growth in Mexico, Brazil, China and India as changing the face of the world. “One billion people in the last decade rose out of abject poverty into the middle class. That’s never happened in 6,000 years of recorded history,” he said. “And hang on, folks, because in the next five years, by 2012, there will be another billion rise out of abject poverty into the middle class.”
 Attorney John Gregg, who served in the Indiana House of Representatives from 1986-2002, and as Speaker from 1996-2002, gave his homespun perspective on the national and state political races. The top three Republican presidential nominees at press time — Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney — are, as Gregg said, “running closer than a pack of stray dogs across my farm.”
Hillary Clinton, Gregg predicts, is the likely Democratic presidential candidate. Though no one is sure if she would pick Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh to be her running mate, if she did, he said, don’t assume our traditionally Republican state would go to Clinton. Bayh’s appeal as a Midwesterner, however, could sway Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, West Virginia and Missouri to the Democratic side, he added.
National Rural Electric Co- operative Association Director of Grassroots Advocacy Randy Dwyer gave an update climate change legislation. “We are facing a carbon constrained world,” he said.
Plymouth teen Katie Day, Indiana’s representative to the Youth Leadership Council, spoke about her experiences on the 2007 Electric Cooperative Youth Tour.
 Outgoing Indiana Statewide President Steve Streepy urged the co-op leaders not to take their roles lightly. “The future of the industry depends on decisions we make today. It’s our responsibility to educate ourselves ... to ensure our co-op is ready for what lies ahead.”
Indiana Statewide Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives, Inc. CEO Bruce Graham, left, shares the microphone with the association’s president, Steve Streepy.
New officers elected
Wabash County REMC Director Robert Hippensteel was elected president of the Indiana Statewide Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives, Inc., during the association’s annual meeting on Dec. 6.
Hippensteel previously served as Indiana Statewide’s vice president and secretary-treasurer.
James Doerstler, Whitewater Valley REMC’s assistant secretary-treasurer, moved up to Indiana Statewide’s vice president spot after two terms as its secretary-treasurer.
Meanwhile, Orange County REMC Director Rodney Hager was elected secretary-treasurer of the Indianapolis-based service association.
Re-elected to the association’s executive committee were David Cox, Newton County REMC, and Ann Lankford, South Central Indiana REMC.
New to the executive committee are Larry Fetters, LaGrange County REMC, and Mark Evans, Parke County REMC.
Auction successful
Annual meeting attendees participated in a silent auction of 42 gift baskets assembled by Indiana’s electric co-ops. When bidding closed, $6,710 was raised for the Ronald McDonald House of Indiana, and $80 was raised for Faith Alliance.
This was the second year for the basket auction. Last year’s auction of 28 baskets raised $3,200.
Written By: eceditor
Date Posted: 1/2/2008
Number of Views: 389
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