Baldwin EMC Board of Trustees
Eighty-four years ago, Baldwin EMC’s first Board of Trustees laid the groundwork for what would become one of the most influential corporations to ever plant roots in Baldwin County. They established the cooperative’s very first operating procedures, helped develop by-laws and created the policies that guided placement of our first poles, lines and meters.
Today, the current Baldwin EMC Board continues to lay groundwork for the cooperative. And with an ever-changing industry and evolving member needs, the board also has an ongoing responsibility to adapt existing policies and embrace new ones in the best interest of those we serve.
That’s one of the primary responsibilities for the Board of Trustees, and not one single member takes it lightly. We know that the decisions made in our meetings reach far beyond the board room. They affect Baldwin EMC’s more than 60,000 members and the communities we serve.
As board members, we don’t interject ourselves into the day-to-day operations of the cooperative. Instead, we leave that in the hands of Baldwin EMC’s team of employees. Then we collect insight and input from them, which helps us develop the policies that become the co-op’s guideposts. These relate to things like employment, safety, ethics and communication, among several other areas.
These policies are important because they remove the “guesswork” from our daily operations and ensure that every member gets the same standard of service.
In addition to setting new policies when we face changes in our business or industry, your co-op board also has a responsibility to review existing policies on a recurring basis, a lengthy, yet worthwhile task.
After all, the people we serve, the area we call home and our industry itself aren’t anything like they were in 1937.
One thing hasn’t changed, though. Your Board of Trustees is elected to serve by the membership. This has always been and always will be the case. A cooperative’s leadership should be composed of people who can speak to the heart of what its members need – people who are affected by the same ups and downs, and changes and challenges as its members. We live, work and worship shoulder to shoulder with the people whose lives are impacted by the decisions we make.
Beyond just being members, we have a responsibility to be informed and participate in training that helps us navigate our decisions with wisdom and the proper insight.
It’s no small commitment, but it’s a fulfilling one. That’s because we know the work we do, if we do it well, honors the legacy established by our founders, the original board members of Baldwin EMC, so many years ago.
And if we continue to respect our commitment to Baldwin EMC’s membership, we’ll have a legacy of our own to hand down to the next generation of cooperative leadership.