MAY 10, 2017 – Delta-Montrose Electric Association is the 2017 recipient of the Edgar F. Chesnutt Award for Best Total Communication Program, the highest honor in the Spotlight on Excellence Awards program.
Above: Accepting the 2017 Edgar F. Chesnutt award for DMEA were (L to R) Jasen Bronec, CEO, Becky Mashburn, marketing supervisor, Phil Sanchez, communications specialist, Virginia Harman, VP of member relations and HR.
Located in southwest Colorado, Delta-Montrose Electric Association serves 27,000 members in Montrose, Delta and Gunnison counties. The Delta-Montrose team won the award for its effective and creative Elevate campaign to inform, educate and promote its new fully fiber optic broadband service to its members.
The team combined many elements of a promotional campaign, such as advertisements, events, digital marketing, one-on-one discussion with members, and door-to-door visits. The campaign also partnered with local businesses to further engage community members on a grassroots level.
“Just like they did many years ago with electricity, today Delta-Montrose is leading the way to provide its members access to high speed internet to communicate and connect with the world,” said NRECA Chief Operating Officer Jeffrey Connor. "Effectively communicating this new offering to members was critical, and the team succeeded using tactics that stress transparency and member support. It takes an imaginative and creative team to succeed in this type of endeavor, and I applaud their efforts.”
Delta-Montrose was recognized during the opening session of CONNECT ‘17, a national communications, marketing and member services conference organized by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) and Touchstone Energy® Cooperatives. Edgar F. Chesnutt, for whom the award is named, was manager of corporate communication with Arkansas Electric Cooperatives in Little Rock from 1961 until 1987.
The Spotlight on Excellence Awards competition recognizes the top-rated communication and marketing efforts by electric cooperatives and related organizations. Participants in the awards competition competed with electric cooperatives of similar sizes in 17 categories. Electric cooperative communicators and marketing professionals submitted more than 780 entries in the Spotlight on Excellence competition, now in its 29th year.
The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association is the national service organization that represents the nation’s more than 900 private, not-for-profit, consumer-owned electric cooperatives, which provide service to 42 million people in 47 states.