Howell-Oregon Electric Cooperative Board of Directors member Brandon Huffman (left) recently received the Board Leadership Program (BLC) certificate from the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA). Presenting his certificate is Board President Keith Tharp.

HOEC recently honored Sara Inman, accounting supervisor, for 22 years of service. Sara retired May 2, 2023. Pictured, left, is Sara with her husband Mark. She enjoys riding horses and is looking forward to spending her days on the farm. Accounting Manager Tracy Brower (shown with Sara at right) talked about her exceptional work in the accounting department and “always knowing where every penny was or was going.”

Each year, Howell-Oregon Electric Cooperative offers four $750 scholarships to area high schools. These high schools are rotated every year and are classified by their region. The applications are sent to a third-party judge to be reviewed and graded to ensure that any bias is eliminated and that the most qualified candidates are the recipients. This year, scholarships were awarded to one graduating senior at Alton, Bakersfield, Eminence and Willow Springs.

Since 2020, the price the Cooperative pays for necessary equipment used to maintain reliability has increased significantly. The price of a 25 KVA transformer has gone up 52%.

HOEC participated in the West Plains Elementary and Middle School Career Day earlier this month. HOEC team members spoke to students about the different jobs at the Cooperative, and let them try on some of the safety gloves and work with some of the nuts and bolts that linemen deal with.