Laurens Electric Cooperative recently took honors in the 2006 “Spotlight on Excellence” Awards Program, sponsored by the Council of Rural Electric Communicators.  The co-op earned an award in the Best Total Communications Program category for its new logo communications strategy.

“Laurens Electric Cooperative is not just about electricity; most importantly it’s about people,” says Jim Donahoo, Director of Marketing & Key Accounts. “We changed our logo in September of 2005 to more accurately convey our focus on the people in the communities we serve.”

The award-winning communications program was one of three top finalists considered for the Edgar F. Chesnutt Award for Best Total Communication Program, the highest honor bestowed through the Spotlight on Excellence Awards Program. This year’s Chesnutt Award went to Ohio Rural Electric Cooperatives (OREC), which conducted a research project to determine what communication methods worked best for co-branding a local electric co-op with the national brand (Touchstone Energy).

“Cooperatives are working hard to communicate effectively with the people they serve – their members,” said Maggie Tilley, administrator of Spotlight on Excellence. “Those efforts were clearly demonstrated in the entries we received from across the nation. Co-op members are being well-served by these outstanding communicators, who deserve recognition.”

The Council of Rural Electric Communicators honored the award recipients at the Connect 2006 Conference, held in San Antonio, TX from May 17-19.

The Spotlight awards competition is an annual event recognizing the top-rated communication and marketing efforts by electric cooperatives and related organizations. Electric cooperative communicators and marketing professionals submitted more than 700 entries in the Spotlight on Excellence program, now in its 18th year. Faculty members from the prestigious University of Missouri – Columbia and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill judged the entries.

The Council of Rural Electric Communicators was organized in 1982, and seeks to advance the recognition, education, and professionalism of electric cooperative communicators and their affiliated organizations. It is a volunteer association working on behalf of approximately 1,300 electric cooperative communicators across the United States. National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, the trade and service organization representing the national interests of cooperative electric utilities, coordinates the Council’s activities. Other national organizations supporting the work of the Council are the National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation, the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative, and Federated Rural Electric Insurance Exchange.