SHOVELING THE ROOF

Over 40 plus winters, I have shoveled a lot of snow in a few states, but until a sunny January day in the lovely state of Michigan, I had never stood on the roof of my home to shovel off the snow. It wasn’t all bad as it was a sunny day, the rest of the family was helping and I needed the exercise. It also gave me some time to reflect on my first year in Michigan.

When I started here last March, we were in the process of “clearing” the Cherryland roof of some major concerns. The cooperative investment in NPI was written off and reported to the members in our annual report. Now, we are just a few months away from selling our shares and completely separating us from this venture. While we will not show a profit on the sale, it will not affect 2003 financial statements. On the positive side we did sell our internet business at a profit and also formed a commission arrangement with the purchaser that continues to bring in monthly profits. Our interest in Cherryland Propane was sold at the end of 2003. We were able to get back our original investment plus a gain that will be realized very soon. So, at the end of my first year, we are finally down to the shingles and focusing on the business of selling electricity.

As far as electric operations go, we completed a four year work plan and added some staff that will allow us to get more done as we focus on our distribution system and service to our growing membership. In the last twelve months, we have added over 800 new members to the lines of your cooperative. This plus service to our current members keeps the dedicated and hard working employees at Cherryland very busy. Dollars are always juggled and stretched in this daily struggle.

While there are many positive things that result from this battle to control dollars and provide good service, there are two that stick out in my mind as I look back on my first year. First and most important is our outage times and responses. We had just a couple storms, kept our outage times within our goals while also maintaining our financial targets. The second thing is tree trimming. I have seen many utilities over the years cut back on tree trimming in order to balance the budget in another area. Tree trimming is the easiest expense to control but the most important factor in future outages. We stayed on target and did not sacrifice short term financial gain at the sake of future outages. We have a tree trimming plan and we are sticking to it.

Perhaps what has impressed me the most at work and out in the community are the people. We negotiated a union contract with Cherryland employees and while tense at times, people got along, work got done and a deal was ironed out. Neighbors stopped to visit when I was building fence at home. Neighbors pulled my family out of a snow bank (twice!). The support given to area high school teams made going to games fun again. Whether it is the Chamber of Commerce, Rotary or the Grand Traverse Fire Department (go, Station 5!!) where I try to help a little or schools where I “attempt” to officiate basketball, all the people sincerely make you feel welcome. It’s kind of like jumping off the roof into the snow bank. No landing is hard if you have a bunch of good people around you and many people in many areas have made the landing here quite soft for me.

So, after 12 months, I’m standing on the roof of your cooperative pleased with the results everyone at Cherryland has achieved but fully aware that it is time to roll up the sleeves and continue the work below. On the ground, there will always be piles to move and doorways to clear. No matter what the weatherman brings, we now have a good roof to protect us as we continue to work on the foundation. As I found out first hand, the footing around this foundation is much more comfortable than the slippery, slope of a snow covered roof.