The Hometown Advantage
Northern Neck Electric Cooperative's commitment to the communities it serves is as strong today as it was in 1937 when we brought electricity to the Northern Neck area. Membership in the Cooperative offers a Hometown Advantage because its management, directors and employees live in the local communities and are well known by many of the members. The Cooperative employs 64 full-time workers and three part-time workers. Contract crews are hired as needed to assist in construction and maintenance activities. The seven-member Board of Directors is comprised of business leaders of diverse backgrounds representing each of the six counties served by the Cooperative.
Hometown Advantage means that the Cooperative has well-trained, knowledgeable employees available to assist its members locally in person, by telephone, electronically, or via mail. Employees are familiar with the Cooperative's service area and know many of its members personally.
Community Involvement
The Cooperative and its employees and directors are involved in the community. We care about and take an active role in bettering the community through involvement with local schools, churches and civic organizations, and are involved in many community activities. We live down the street from you and we play on your local teams. The Cooperative gives financial and other support to all volunteer fire departments and volunteer rescue squads in the counties it serves. It also supports charitable organizations.
The Cooperative's auditorium is utilized by many civic and community groups for special programs and is available free of charge to non-profit groups. Call our Public Relations Department if your organization wishes to use our facility. Northern Neck Electric Cooperative sends high school juniors to Washington, D.C. on the NRECA National Youth Tour each year, provides educational and safety programs to local schools, and participates in and sponsors many community events.
The Seven Guiding Principles of Cooperatives
Today's cooperatives have their beginnings in the founding of an early cooperative that was started in Rochdale, England, in 1844 by a group of weavers. Because these early cooperative pioneers put their organizing principles down in writing, the legacy of this early cooperative lives on. These principles are guidelines by which all cooperatives put their values into practice. The following principles were reaffirmed and adopted at the 1995 General Assembly of the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) held in Manchester, England, to mark the Alliance's 100th Anniversary.
- Voluntary and Open Membership
Cooperatives are voluntary organizations, open to all persons able to use their services and willing to accept the responsibilities of membership without gender, social, racial, political, or religious discrimination.
- Democratic Member Control
Cooperatives are democratic organizations controlled by their members, who actively participate in setting policies and making decisions. The elected representatives are accountable to the membership. In primary cooperatives, members have equal voting rights (one member, one vote) and cooperatives at other levels are organized in a democratic manner.
- Members' Economic Participation
Members contribute equitably to, and democratically control, the capital of their cooperative. At least part of that capital is usually the common property of the cooperative. Members usually receive limited compensation, if any, on capital subscribed as a condition of membership.
Members allocate surpluses for any or all of the following purposes: Developing the cooperative, possibly by setting up reserves, part of which at least would be indivisible; benefiting members in proportion to their transactions with the cooperative; and supporting other activities approved by the membership.
- Autonomy and Independence
Cooperatives are autonomous, self-help organizations controlled by their members. If they enter into agreements with other organizations, including governments, or raise capital from external sources, they do so on terms that ensure democratic control by their members and maintain their cooperative autonomy.
- Education, Training and Information
Cooperatives provide education and training for their members, elected representatives, managers and employees so they can contribute effectively to the development of their cooperatives. They inform the general public, particularly young people and opinion leaders, about the nature and benefits of cooperation.
- Cooperation Among Cooperatives
Cooperatives serve their members most effectively and strengthen the cooperative movement by working together through local, national, regional and international structures.
- Concern for Community
While focusing on member needs, cooperatives work for the sustainable development of their communities through policies accepted by their members.
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