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National awards program shines a spotlight on NDAREC

Communicators from the North Dakota Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives (NDAREC) stepped into the spotlight May 7 to accept four national awards honoring outstanding writing and artistic design. The Spotlight on Excellence Awards program, an initiative of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) and the Council of Rural Electric Communicators (CREC), recognizes outstanding work produced by electric cooperative communications and marketing professionals.

“Having the talent, commitment and means to effectively communicate is critical. It is something we pride ourselves in doing well, and it is rooted in the seven cooperative principles that guide our work — the fifth being ‘education, training and information,’” says Josh Kramer, NDAREC executive vice president and general manager. “Our communications team works tirelessly to promote the work of North Dakota’s electric cooperatives. Though we certainly don’t do what we do to win awards, we are always humbled when our efforts are rewarded.”

In a record-setting year, the Spotlight on Excellence Awards program received more than 800 entries across 20 categories representing the wide scope and valuable contributions of today’s co-op communicators. NDAREC took home awards in four highly competitive categories:

  • Best Feature Story (Gold Award). This award honors in-depth, interpretive coverage of a subject, or an entertaining, colorful story that informs the reader. Published in the February 2023 issue of the North Dakota Living magazine, Krista Rausch’s story, “Poles and wires, spark plugs and brake pads: Women climb to nontraditional careers,” tells the stories of four women pursuing careers in male-dominated professions, including line work, auto mechanics and auto body repair, and raises awareness of North Dakota’s trade education programs.

  • Best News Story (Gold Award). This award honors a story of immediate interest that focuses on facts and straight news reporting. Also appearing in the February 2023 issue of the North Dakota Living magazine, Cally Peterson’s story, “North Dakota’s child care crisis,” addresses the need for child care in the state and recognizes the important work being done to combat this crisis.

  • Best Wild Card (Gold Award). This award honors a marketing or communication effort focused on promoting a co-op message. Clarice Kesler, Cally Peterson and Liza Kessel received the gold award for their work in the Cooperative Center corridor. Located in NDAREC’s Cooperative Center, the corridor tells the rich history and evolution of North Dakota’s electric cooperatives and how they used the cooperative business model to greatly improve quality of life in North Dakota. It includes a historical timeline, an energy evolution wall and displays highlighting the cooperative values and principles.

  • Best Annual or Impact Report (Silver Award). NDAREC’s Cooperative Power pamphlet earned this award for effectively communicating the economic impact of North Dakota’s electric cooperatives. The educational pamphlet demonstrates how the state’s 16 distribution and five generation and transmission cooperatives power the lives of co-op members and support their local communities. Krista Rausch, Liza Kessel and Brenna Ohman created the 32-page pamphlet, with input from the NDAREC communications team.

The winners were recognized at an awards reception held in conjunction with NRECA’s Connect Conference in Baltimore, Maryland. Their projects, which were on display throughout the conference, will also be published in the Spotlight on Excellence Library of Leading Practices. This resource allows co-op communicators to view winning entries, learn from them and apply new ideas to projects at their own co-ops.

NDAREC is the statewide trade association for 17 electric distribution cooperatives and five generation and transmission cooperatives operating in North Dakota. The distribution cooperatives provide electricity to nearly 250,000 North Dakotans. NDAREC services include legislative advocacy, lineworker safety training, professional development, cooperative business development and communication services, including publication of the North Dakota Living magazine.