Cohasset, Minn. – Lake Country Power recently received recognition in the national 2020 Spotlight on Excellence Awards program, sponsored by the Council of Rural Electric Communicators (CREC) and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA). 

Lake Country Power received a Gold Award in the “most innovative use of digital communication” category for a video series called, “My job. My co-op. My life.” Greg Schulzetenberg, manager of community relations & marketing, wrote, edited and produced the award-winning videos. The videos can be found by linking to the co-op’s You Tube channel from www.lakecountrypower.coop. 

The co-op also received a Silver Award in the “best event” category for a safety education presentation called the “Hot Stick Program.” Tami Zaun, public relations coordinator, created, wrote and executed the safety program for several third-grade classrooms in 2019.

The award-winning Hot Stick Program is being offered to elementary schools each year. Interested schools should contact Lake Country Power by calling 1-800-421-9959 (extension 7152) to schedule a safety presentation.

“It’s an honor to win and be recognized for our work and contributions to Lake Country Power and its membership,” said Greg Schulzetenberg, manager of community relations & marketing. “Printed news publications, social media, videos and in-person presentations are more important than ever to connect with members and cut through the clutter of information overload.”

“We work hard to keep our members updated on the issues affecting electric cooperatives while also engaging them with interesting material such as informative videos and the Hot Stick Program,” added Tami Zaun, public relations coordinator. “To win is a huge honor considering the wide scope and valuable contributions of co-op communicators across the country.”

The annual Spotlight on Excellence Awards program recognizes the best communication and marketing efforts by electric cooperatives across the United States. Entrants compete with electric cooperatives of similar size in 16 categories. Electric cooperative communicators and marketing professionals submitted nearly 670 entries in the Spotlight on Excellence program.

Faculty members from the University of Missouri-Columbia and University of South Carolina, as well as noted professionals in the fields of marketing, web design, digital communications and newspapers judged the event, which uses a finite scoring system to determine the winners.

The CREC was organized in 1982, and seeks to advance the recognition, education and professionalism of electric cooperative communicators and their affiliated organizations. This volunteer association works on behalf of more than 4,000 electric cooperative communicators across the United States.

Lake Country Power, www.lakecountrypower.coop, is a Touchstone Energy® cooperative serving parts of eight counties in northeastern Minnesota. The rural electric cooperative provides services to nearly 43,000 members and has offices located in Cohasset, Kettle River and Mountain Iron.