Tom Brichacek The Todd-Wadena Electric Cooperative annual membership meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 15, at Memorial Auditorium in Wadena. A membership dinner will precede the meeting beginning at 5:15. All Todd-Wadena members are encouraged to attend.

General Manager Robin Doege, who took over the cooperative’s management duties in January, will summarize the 2009 business report and highlight industry trends.

Board terms will expire for incumbent directors Marie Katterhagen, Browerville, Jerry Mevissen, Nimrod and Mike Thorson, Browerville. Each is seeking re-election. Other candidates are Tom Brichacek, Browerville, David Hillukka, Menahga, and Roy Olander, Staples.

Members may vote for directors at the meeting or request an absentee ballot by contacting the cooperative office. To be counted, completed ballots must be completed and returned to the office by 4:30 p.m. on April 14.

David Hillukka Todd-Wadena Electric Cooperative serves 8,500 members who reside primarily in the rural areas of Todd and Wadena counties.

TWEC Board candidates and statements include the following:

Tom Brichacek I have been married to my wife Aimee for nine years and we have one daughter, Abby.

We live in rural Browerville on a small hobby farm.

I was born and raised in Moran Township and attended school in Staples. I attended Alexandria Tech College, receiving a degree in Marketing and Sales Management. I am currently part owner and vice president of Rick’s Miran Creek Furniture.

Challenges that we will be facing in the future are the capacity to produce electricity for our members and cap and trade legislation that will affect the prices of our electricity.

We need to educate our members and lobby on their behalf to our elected officials to keep our power costs in check.

Marie Katterhagen David Hillukka

David Hillukka and his wife Laura are parents to 11 children. They live on a hobby farm in Blueberry Township near Menahga where they raise grass-fed Angus beef.

Dave attended Detroit Lakes Technical College. He was employed for 13 years as a Dairy Nutrition Consultant before becoming an independent insurance agent in Menahga about five years ago.

Dave serves as secretary on the Runeberg Apostolic Lutheran Church and is a member of the Menahga Civic and Commerce group.

A Todd-Wadena member for more than 20 years, he agreed to run for the board, citing the need for representation from the northern part of the cooperative’s service area. In addition, he believes his background in insurance and his understanding of farming bring value. “Energy will be a big part of household budgets in the future and I want to help keep it competitive,” he said.

Jerry Mevissen To meet future challenges, he believes the cooperative will need to keep on top of alternative and cost-effective energy. “New technology will be vital to keeping Todd-Wadena up to date and competitive.”

Marie Katterhagen

Marie Katterhagen and her husband Dale live on a farm northeast of Browerville. They have two grown sons and are proud grandparents of two little girls and one grandson.

A registered nurse, Marie has been employed at Long Prairie Memorial Hospital since 1976. She has served as the hospital’s manager of surgical services for the past 20 years.

Marie has been active in her church. She has served on the Christ the King School board, the Home and School Association and the St. Cloud Diocesan Pastoral Council. She is also a Parish Nurse.

Roy Olander Marie was appointed to the Todd-Wadena board to fill a vacancy, and she was elected in 2007. She feels she has gained a solid background in the operations of the industry and in cooperative leadership.

“Becoming a Credentialed Cooperative Directive certainly contributed to that, and it confirmed my beliefs that this co-op provides excellent, reliable service to its members and strives to keep it affordable. It is critical that consumers are represented by knowledgeable, committed leadership to work with legislators toward a balanced solution to our energy challenges.”

Jerry Mevissen

Jerry lives on a hobby farm south of Nimrod and raises Scottish Highland cattle. He is a graduate of the University of Minnesota’s School of Business, served in the U.S. Army, and retired from Honeywell after 36 years in Marketing and Program Management.

Mike Thorson His community service includes Boy Scouts, 4-H leadership, two school board chairmanships, candidate for State Legislature, and Planning Commission chairman. He now divides his time between the hobby farm, community service, traveling with grandkids, and creative writing.

Jerry was elected to the TWEC board in 2004 and re-elected in 2007. He is a member of the Wadena County Parks Commission, several local historical societies, Headwaters Lifelong Learning Center, and Minnesota Beef Growers’ Ass’n. He completed his six-day Directors Accreditation Program and continues to attend energy conferences and regional, state and national meetings.

“I appreciate the opportunity to apply the skills of operations and management acquired in my years in the private sector,” Jerry said. “TWEC is blessed with a competent, energetic and dedicated board. They strive for reliable service and reasonable rates with a safety first mentality. But there are challenges.

“Conservation and renewable energy mandates, both state and federal, are moving targets and must be met. Electrical generation, transmission, and distribution options will change, and their rising costs will challenge us.”

Roy Olander

Roy Olander was born in Bartlett Township, graduated from Staples High School and worked as a machinist in the Twin Cities for 13 years before he and wife, Mary Lou, moved their family to a farm in Germania Township. The couple raised 11 children and farmed, plus running a machine shop. The farm evolved to a beef operation while Roy’s machining business continued to grow. In 2004 the shop was moved to the Staples Industrial Park. Roy continues to own and operate the shop in addition to the farm.

Roy has been active in 4-H, FFA, church youth groups and Boys Scouts. He has also served on the boards of the Sacred Heart School, Germania Township, the Todd County Farm Bureau and the Todd County FSA, which he chaired for several years.

Roy said he decided to contend for a Todd-Wadena board seat because as a business owner in the Industrial Park, he is concerned about the future of power supply. He would also like to assist in directing the cooperative to seek alternative sources of power while preserving the coal-based supply we have. Finally, he said he is proud of the co-op, but he also believes that “sometimes new ideas come with new faces.”

To meet future challenges, Roy believes TWEC should take a proactive stance in preserving the current electrical grid with its coal power source. The cooperative also needs to continue to engage members in the co-op, he said, educating them about the potential laws that could negatively affect rates and bringing new members onto the board on a regular basis. The cooperative should continue to diversify power suppliers, he added. “Planning long term to meet the area’s needs verses getting caught up in the issues of the day will be important to our long term viability. A working strategic plan will aid in meeting these challenges.”

Mike Thorson

Mike and Eloise Thorson operate a 320-acre family farm northeast of Browerville, where they raise 60 acres of fruits and vegetables. They market their produce at Thorson’s Farm Market in Long Prairie and at other farmers markets and the wholesale market. They have two grown sons and three grandchildren.

Mike is a University of Minnesota graduate in ag economics and served three years active duty in the U.S. Army. He has served on the Staples school board and the MN Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association board. He completed the Blandin Community Leadership Program and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association Credentialed Cooperative Director Program.

Mike’s experience on Todd-Wadena’s board includes seven years as president, four years as treasurer and presently he serves as vice president. For eight years he has been Todd-Wadena’s representative on the board of its power supplier, Great River Energy, where he has chaired the corporate services and transmission committees and now serves on its finance and compensation committees. He also represents Great River Energy on the board of ACES Power Marketing cooperative in Indiana.

“Because Todd-Wadena is a very small cooperative, it is important to our members that we partner with other cooperatives to achieve diversity of loads and economies of scale to deliver power more economically and reliably.

“Laws and mandates have tremendous impact on the cost and reliability of power. It is important that we are actively involved with other cooperatives and state and national organizations to educate and influence our legislators as they make decisions about our energy future.

“These are challenging times and we must try to balance our commitment to the environment with the need for an adequate supply of electricity at affordable rates. I believe with my experience, education, common sense and commitment to our cooperative, I am able to help lead Todd-Wadena toward a future of reliable, affordable power in harmony with our environment.”