The Milestones behind the Meters
A strong foundation still powers our progress today
If you ask an accountant to tell a story, don’t be surprised when it starts with numbers.
Here’s mine: I joined Ozarks Electric in 1991 and became CEO in 1999. Since then, we’ve grown to more than 92,000 meters, launched OzarksGo, a fiber-optic internet service connecting 45,000 customers (and counting) and earned some of the highest member satisfaction scores in the country. But numbers tell only part of our story.
Ozarks Electric was founded 88 years ago by neighbors who were tired of being left behind. Fayetteville had electric lights by the 1880s, yet farms just a few miles away still relied on kerosene lamps and hand-drawn water 50 years later. In 1938, those families gathered around kitchen tables and in town halls, voted to organize and applied for a loan through the new Rural Electrification Administration. They built their own path to power and progress.
From that moment on, our cooperative has been shaped by the people it serves. Every mile of line, every service and every innovation has been guided by one simple idea: our members come first, not shareholders. That’s the cooperative difference.
For many years, Ozarks Electric has shared space in Arkansas Living, the statewide publication for Arkansas’ 17 electric cooperatives. In the early days, that magazine was often the only way members learned about the progress of rural electrification. As our cooperative and communities have grown, so has our story. We wanted space to tell it fully and to highlight the people, places and innovation that make our service area unique. That’s why we’re launching this magazine. It’s another way to strengthen the connection between our cooperative and the people who built it, celebrating the work, creativity and heart that define this region.
As always, our success depends on our members. We’d love to hear from you. Email your stories, ideas or questions anytime to editor@ozarksconnections.com.
If you’ve enjoyed Arkansas Living, you can still read it online or subscribe separately. But we’re proud to launch Ozarks Connections, a publication that’s entirely ours — written for, by and about the people of Northwest Arkansas and Northeast Oklahoma.
Sincerely,
Mitchell Johnson
President / Chief Executive Officer