October 2014 Diverse Power Incorporated Newsletter 22A

OCTOBER 2014

Power Points

Inside:About cooperatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 22BMeet the GSOC board. . . . . . . . . . . . Page 22BCouples Conference and

Youth Conference . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 22CD&J Plastics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 22D

There’s help at TogetherWeSave.coms there too muchmonth left at the

end of your money?If you’re like mostof us, making endsmeet in today’seconomy can be a balancing act.There’s help!

As a member of Touchstone En-ergy Coopera tives,Diverse Poweroffers our membersaccess to practicalenergy- and money-saving tips and toolsat the TouchstoneEnergy website at TogetherWeSave.com.There, you will find tons of informa-tion geared to reduce energy con-sumption, thereby decreasing yourutility bill.

The newest component of the siteis the Power of Using Energy Wiselysection, which is chock-full of videos,blog articles and apps with recom-mendations for reducing energy use.The videos—20 in all—demonstratehow to make practical, energy-savingupdates around the home and featuretitles like: “Check Your Refrigerator’sSeals,” “Lighting Your Home” and“Using a Kill-A-Watt Monitor.” AnEnergy Savings blog provides a new tipeach day to keep fresh information infront of you, as well as routine blogentries with info on the latest and great-est money-saving tips and products.

The Saving Energy at Home Tourelectronically guides you through asample home, while providing a broad

view of ideas for cutting back on elec-tric power consumption.

For a narrowed view targetingyour own home, use the site’s newHome Efficiency Analysis Tool that’sdesigned to prioritize projects you cando to reduce energy based on infor-mation you provide about yourhome’s size, age and construction.Based on the info you enter, you’ll getinstructions for do-it-yourself weekendprojects or, for more labor-intensiveprojects, instructions to use with aqualified contractor. The HomeEfficiency Analysis Tool identifiesmaterials needed for the project, asso-ciated costs, how-to details and diffi-culty level.

With the concise, practical, easy-to-understand information availablethrough the Touchstone EnergyCooperatives website, together we’llsave on energy costs. Try it out atTogetherWeSave.com.

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Oct. 3-5 has been designatedby the State of Georgia as anENERGY STAR and Water SenseSales Tax Holiday.

During this weekend, itemsexempt from sales tax if theyhave the ENERGY STAR labeland cost $1,500 or less peritem include: air conditioners,ceiling fans, clothes washers,dehumidifiers, dishwashers,doors, fluorescent light bulbs,programmable thermostats,refrigerators and windows.

Items exempt from sales taxif they have the WaterSenselabel and cost $1,500 or lessper item include: bathroom sinkfaucets, faucet accessories,high-efficiency toilets, high-effi-ciency urinals, showerheads andweather- or sensor-based irriga-tion controllers.

The sales tax exemption doesnot include products purchasedfor trade, business or resale.

Energy efficiency,tax-free!

www.diversepower.com

Innovation through vision.

Quality through service.

Diverse Power Incorporated, an Electric Membership Corporation

Diverse Power Inc.P.O. Box 1601400 South Davis RoadLaGrange, Georgia 30241(706) 845-2000(800) 845-8362

Diverse Power Inc., Pataula DistrictP. O. Box 289413 Blakely StreetCuthbert, GA 39840(229) 732-3171(800) 845-8362

www.diversepower.comwww.arcofadventure.com

Jackie Kennedy, Editorjackiekennedy8899@yahoo.com

A Word from Wayne

iverse Power Incorporated, the util-ity that keeps your lights and appli-

ances humming along every day, is acooperative, owned by the consumerswe serve—you and your neighbors.

In fact, your electric cooperativedoesn’t refer to you as a customer.Instead, our employees know you as amember. This is your business.

In a nutshell, the basic cooperativebusiness model is this: Cooperatives arenot-for-profit, democratically controlledand member-owned. They don’t sellstock to out-of-state shareholders orleave it up to outsiders to decide what’sbest for local member-owners. Coopera -tive members take care of their ownbusiness by electing directors who hirethe manager and set policies for the utility.

Cooperatives come in differentshapes and sizes and represent a broadspectrum of industries, from agricultureand health care to housing and finance.Cooperatives you may be familiar with,even if you didn’t realize they werecooperatives, include Land O’ Lakes,Ocean Spray, Sun-Maid, Welch’s, BestWestern, Nationwide Insurance and Ace Hardware.

Individuals come together to formcooperatives in order to improve

bargaining power,reduce costs andobtain products orservices otherwiseunavailable. DiversePower was organ-ized in 1936 by farmers and friends whowere denied electricity from private powercompanies. By banding together, they wereable to acquire a commodity that previ-ously had been unobtainable.

Throughout the world, cooperativesgenerate more than $500 billion in revenueeach year while providing more than 2 mil-lion jobs. In the U.S., almost 30,000 cooper-atives do business.

Each year, October is recognized asCooperative Month; at Diverse Power, how-ever, we recognize the importance of coop-eratives year-round. It’s why we recentlyhosted a meeting of the Georgia SystemOperations Corporation, a statewide serviceco-op to which we belong (see photobelow). And it’s why we send delegates toevents like the Youth Leadership Confer -ence and Co-op Education Conference forCouples (see page 22C).

We think it’s important that leaders inour community understand how coopera-tives operate and the principles on whichthey were founded. We hope you think it’simportant, too.

The power of cooperatives

Wayne LivingstonPresident/CEO

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22B GEORGIA MAGAZINEDiverse Power Incorporated Newsletter

Board of DirectorsChairmanDr. Bill Couch

Vice ChairmanDavid Murphy

SecretaryJimmy Bailey

Larry KeithCharles KnightHarrell LandrethCheryl G. MeadowsRoy Tollerson Jr.Richard Williams Larry Williamson

StaffWayne LivingstonPresident/CEO

Lisa BoothExecutive Assistant

Randy PruettSenior Vice President/COO

Wade F. HallSenior Vice President/CFO

Randy ShepardSenior Vice President/CTO

Wendell CoxCustomer Service Manager

Ken PopeMarketing Coordinator

Scott SawyerMarketing Services CoordinatorDiverse Power Incorporated provides electric-ity and related services to almost 35,000meters on 5,500 miles of power lines inTroup, Harris, Meriwether, Heard, Muscogee,Coweta, Calhoun, Clay, Quitman, Randolph,Early, Stewart and Terrell counties in Georgiaand Chambers County, Ala.

Power Points is the official news- letter of Diverse Power Incorporated and is distributed monthly to all its members.

Georgia System Operations Corporation Board of Directors met at Diverse Power on Aug. 5. Directorsare, l-r: Chip Jakins, Jackson EMC; Royce Lyles, outside director; GSOC President/CEO Greg Ford; NealShepard, Coweta-Fayette EMC; Randy Crenshaw, Irwin EMC/Middle Georgia EMC; Anthony Norton,Snapping Shoals EMC; Julian Rigby, Satilla REMC; Harry Park, Southern Rivers Energy; Hugh Rucker,Habersham EMC; George Loehr, outside director; Simmie King, Colquitt EMC; Neal Trice, Upson EMC;Ted McMillian, Sumter EMC; James Goodrich, outside director; and Wayne Livingston, Diverse Power.

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Education

October 2014 22CDiverse Power Incorporated Newsletter

Emphasis On:

Diverse Power sponsors co-op education, leadership training for youth and young couples

ver the summer, Diverse PowerIncorporated sponsored eight

individuals, including four teens andfour adults, on trips designed to edu-cate them about cooperatives and pro-vide leadership training among peers.

In June, the cooperative provideda weeklong leadership tour of thenation’s capital to area teens B.J.Garcia, of Pine Mountain Valley;Kaylon Gilbert, of Cuthbert; andKatelyn Flynn, of Hamilton. (See theSeptember 2014 issue of Power Pointsfor their story.)

In July, Garcia joined AnthonySantiago, of Midland, and 55 morestudents from across Georgia asDiverse Power delegates at theGeorgia Cooperative Council YouthLeadership Conference. Held at theGeorgia FFA/FCCLA Center in Cov -ington, the conference builds leader-ship skills and teaches attendeesabout the role cooperatives play intheir communities.

According to Diverse PowerPresident/CEO Wayne Livingston, it’simportant that students understandthe basics of cooperatives and theprinciples on which they werefounded.

“These students may becometrailblazers in their own right, so wefeel a responsibility to teach themabout organizations that play a pivotal

role in helping their communitiesgrow and prosper, and co-ops are aperfect example,” says Livingston.“These teens have shown themselvesto be peer leaders, and we help thembuild on those leadership skills byproviding a fun-filled week sur-rounded by other young leaders.”

The conference included a fast-paced workshop where studentsplayed the Congressional InsightGame, presented by the NationalRural Electric Cooperative Associa -tion, to teach skills necessary to beeffective members of Congress, i.e.,managing staff, responding to mediainquiries, monitoring legislation andattending round-the-clock meetingswith constituents, lobbyists and colleagues.

The son of Lorina Santiago-Ostolaza and Hector Ostolaza,Anthony Santiago is active in BoyScouts, Spanish Club, soccer andfootball. Garcia is a Harris CountyHigh School senior involved withBoy Scouts, Junior ROTC, baseballand church activities.

In August, Diverse Power sentMatt and Brittany Comerford (whoserved as host couple) and Jon andHeather Thompson, all of LaGrange,to the 2014 Co-op Educa tionConference for Couples at The RidgesResort and Marina in Hiawassee.

“For nearly three decades, theconference has brought couplestogether to learn about the coopera-tive way of business, to differentiatebetween cooperatives and corpora-tions, and to exchange experiencesand ideas with other couples andcooperative leaders,” says GaleCutler, chairman of the Georgia Co-op Council Board of Directors andPublic Relations Coordi nator atGeorgia Electric Membership Corp.

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Like students at the Youth Leader -ship Conference, adults at the CouplesConference were schooled in theworkings of cooperatives and encour-aged to take part in cooperative andcommunity leadership.

“By sponsoring participants onevents like these, Diverse Power fulfills two of the Seven CooperativePrinciples by which we operate, onewhich encourages education andinformation and another that calls for concern for community,” saysLivingston. “We hope the delegateswe sponsored for events last summerwill spread the word about the valueof the cooperative business model.”

Brittany and Matt Comerford

Heather and Jon Thompson

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Anthony SantiagoB.J. Garcia

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22D GEORGIA MAGAZINEDiverse Power Incorporated Newsletter

Community Connections

t’s a good bet that Dennis Mont -gomery will never run out of artifi-

cial fishing bait. A Georgetownresident in Diverse Power’s PataulaDistrict, Montgomery runs D&JPlastics, one of the nation’s top pro-ducers of soft, plastic fishing lures.

Named for Dennis and his wife,Joyce, the company launched in 1996and is the premier manufacturer ofsoft, plastic fishing lures for the tackleindustry. Designs crafted in bulk atthe plant include plastic worms, frogs,lizards, grubs, minnows and more.Crafted to catch fish—and plenty ofthem—the lures feature names likeTriple Tail Worm, Trick Sticks and YoMama.

The plant turns out 700,000pieces of bait every 24 hours, fivedays a week, according to Mont -gomery.

“The packaging department hasbeen working six days a week for the last four to five months due to increased business,” he says, addingthat the company’s aggressive pursuitof chain and box stores has landedhis lures in national retail outlets likeCabella’s, Dick’s, Gander Mountainand Sports Academy.

Begun as a cottage industry, D&JPlastics now employs about 140workers at the 50,000-square-footplant, set for expansion to accommo-date the growth. Part-time employeeswho can’t afford child care pick upboxes of lures at the plant and takethem home to check for defects,

Making bait at D&J Plastics

I according to Mont gomery, who saysthe company ships its products to all50 states and most nations.

“When it comes to fishing inBrussels, they have zander, whereaswe have walleye in the U.S.,” saysMont gomery, noting that a few coun-tries to which his lures are shippedinclude Finland, Russia, Mexico andAustralia. An avid fisherman himself,Mont gomery lives and fishes on “theGeorgia side” of Walter F. GeorgeLake, known as Lake Eufaula inAlabama.

President of the Quitman CountyRotary Club, Mont gomery also servesas a volunteer fireman with theQuitman County Volunteer FireDepartment and as a deacon atGeorgetown Baptist Church. Hefarms some and considers fishing andbait-making both hobby and career.

“My career is my hobby, and to

This MonthEvery October is Cooperative Month, when members from almost 30,000 cooperatives nationwide—includ-

ing more than 900 electric cooperatives, like Diverse Power—celebrate their heritage. Take a few moments thismonth to learn a little more about the way your electric cooperative does business.

October is Cooperative Month

see my family come along in it andlove it makes it even more special,”he concludes. “Even my grandchil-dren are involved now.”

For more on this vibrant familybusiness, visit the D&J Plastics web-site at plasticlures.com.

Dennis Montgomery also operates Big Bite Baits in Georgetown. A retail outlet for luresmanufactured by D&J Plastics, Big Bite Baits sponsors several professional fishermen,including Dean Rojas and Jeff Kriet.

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Dennis Montgomery and D&J Plastics wel-come Diverse Power to Quitman Countyand credits the cooperative with an aggres-sive right-of-way clearing program that hasimproved electric service at their facility.