Wheatland Electric’s 71st Annual Meeting was held at the Great Bend Events Center in Great Bend, Kansas on Wednesday, April 24th and was a great success.  This year we tried something new and held concurrent Annual Meetings at our six additional offices.  This was the first time we were able to offer the membership and employees the ability to see and attend the annual meeting remotely.  There were approximately 278 people in attendance system wide, representing 256 Wheatland memberships.  We would also like to thank all the special guests who attended.  During the meeting, we presented the 2018 financial report, and the annual summary, telling the Wheatland story for 2018. 

Wheatland recognized the 14 high school senior scholarship winners, who will each receive a $1,000 scholarship to continue their education.  The following students received scholarships:

·       Brant Cotta – Argonia High School  

·       Sophee Sprague  – Caldwell High School 

·       Jamie Manning – Chaparral High School 

·       Molly Schmanke  – Conway Springs High School 

·       Yadira Juarez- Soto  – Deerfield High School 

·       Grace Soupiset  – Great Bend High School 

·       Sebastian Torres – Greeley County High School 

·       Jasmine Palacios – Holcomb High School

·       Hannah Holler – Norwich Consolidated Schools 

·       Chaseton Cupp – Scott Community High School

·       Cade Dvorak – South Haven High School 

·       Wyatt Carter – Syracuse High School 

·       Kaiya Gerstberger – Wichita County High School 

·       Abby Flickner – At-large – Kingman High School 

We also recognized two Youth Tour and two Cooperative Youth Leadership Camp winners.

·       Olivia Mull from Great Bend High School – Youth Tour

·       Delaney Mayo from Caldwell High School – Youth Tour 

·       Tori Poe from Norwich High School – Cooperative Youth Leadership Camp

·       Fabel Yanez from Greeley County/ Tribune High School – Cooperative Youth Leadership Camp

During the meeting Wheatland employees were acknowledged for service awards ranging from five to thirty years.  Wheatland Electric Trustees were also elected during the meeting.  The following Trustees were elected to the Wheatland Electric Board of Trustees:

·       Wes Campbell – District 5

·       Robert Hiss – District 6

·       William Barnes – District 7

In 2018, Wheatland Electric paid out capital credits in the amount of $1,250,000. It was also announced at the annual meeting that the Wheatland Board of Trustees has budgeted $1,000,000 in capital credits payouts for 2019 (based on the 2018 financials).  We would like to emphasize budgeted, just in case there would be an unforeseen financial crisis that would inhibit our ability to pay capital credits.  At this time, Wheatland is planning to payout our capital credits in December 2019. Be sure to look for the Capital Credits Harvest Days event at your local Wheatland office where you will be able to pick up your checks and share some refreshments with other members and Wheatland staff.

Thank you to all the members who attended system wide.  We look forward to continuing to grow the remote locations attendance and participation in the years to come.