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January 18, 2012 Camp Boggy Creek is an internationally known camp for very seriously ill children. The Camp is the only multi-disease therapeutic camp program in Florida that provides medically supervised, recreational activities for children with chronic or life threatening illnesses. SECO won the Company Sponsored Volunteer Project category because of the Co-op's leading role in making Camp Boggy Creek's 14 family cabins more energy efficient through duct repair, caulking, weather stripping, etc. In addition, a brand new 32 panel solar system was installed to heat the Camp's pool. The pool is used for recreation and for therapy and was being heated by expensive propane. The Leadership in Community Service & Corporate Social Responsibility award was presented to SECO for its overall commitment to the communities it serves, the co-op's employee support for the many humanitarian needs in our various counties, SECO's support and participation in our local chambers and economic development organizations, the SECO Angel Fund activities, and much, much more. The judges were obviously very impressed with the depth and consistency of SECO's efforts on behalf of the people living in its service territory. Communitas is Latin for people coming together for the good of the community. These awards are sponsored by the Association of Marketing and Communications Professionals and recognize exceptional businesses, organizations and individuals that are unselfishly giving of themselves and their resources and those that are changing how they do business to benefit their communities. PrintablePDF January 12, 2012 The students chosen to receive SECO Scholarships in 2012 will each be the beneficiaries of a $2,500 grant to assist them in their pursuit of higher education. SECO Director of Corporate Communications Barry Bowman said, "The selection of those students who will receive scholarships will be based on each individual's past and present activities in school and the community, financial need and scholastic record. All applicants will be evaluated by an independent panel of educators from around the SECO service territory." He noted that to qualify, graduates must reside in a home being served by SECO and be enrolled in an accredited college, university or vocational/technical school by the end of 2012. Applications are now available at area high school guidance offices and at any of SECO's customer service centers in Marion, Lake, Citrus, and Sumter counties. They must be returned to SECO no later than March 30, 2012. "The SECO scholarship program reaffirms the Co-op's commitment to the future of our young people, and while the program has no impact on the cost of electricity, it is a significant benefit for those awardees struggling to fund their higher education," concluded Bowman. Printable PDF January 9, 2012 To receive the coveted ' Tree Line USA' designation SECO had to have a program of quality tree care, annual worker training in quality tree care practices, and a tree planting and public education program. At a ceremony honoring SECO, Dan Lambe, Vice President of Programs for the Arbor Day Foundation, said, "SECO's commitment to providing safe, reliable electric service to their customers while working to strategically manage and grow the urban tree canopy provides important benefits to communities across their service area." AT SECO, we strive to be environmentally sensitive in all areas of our operation, and our vegetation management program is a prime example of that. Trees enrich our lives. They also help reduce peak demand for electricity by conserving energy. We are extremely grateful to the Arbor Day Foundation and the National Association of Foresters for recognizing the hard work we've put January 3, 2012 The survey, conducted annually on behalf of SECO by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, lets SECO officials know what is on their member/consumers' minds and how well they think their utility is being run. Barry Bowman, SECO Director of Corporate Communications, said, "A statistically valid sample of members in Marion, Lake, Citrus and Sumter counties were surveyed. Overall, members continue to think very highly of their cooperative with a mean overall satisfaction rating of 8.87 on a 10-point scale with seven in ten members giving ratings of 9 or 10." Bowman noted that the co-op scored very well on having courteous and friendly employees, having accurate and understandable bills, supporting the local community, being environmentally sensitive, minimizing longer outages and restoring power quickly after an outage, keeping members informed, and delivering good value for the money to name a few of the categories. The survey also contained a series of standardized questions that enable SECO to be compared to other utilities who seek to rate themselves on the nationally recognized American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). SECO CEO Jim Duncan said, "On this particular index a score like SECO's ACSI score of 85 is considered to be very high. Our index ranking for 2011represents one of the highest in the industry and ranked higher than the average for the nation's Touchstone Energy co-ops, the ranked investor-owned electric utilities in Florida, and was 10 points above the electric industry average of 75. "We appreciate the input of our members. Their thoughts help us stay on top of what is important to them. Their responses this year to our survey validate what J.D. Power and Associates found recently in that respected company's own nationwide survey of customer satisfaction with electric utilities. Their survey ranked SECO as the highest in customer satisfaction of all the utilities in Florida both large and small. So, thank you members. We will continue to keep the focus on providing our members with best customer service possible," Duncan concluded. Printable PDF January 3, 2012 According to SECO Director of Corporate Communications, Barry Bowman, “Any time temperatures are projected to hit 30 degrees or lower our plan for addressing the cold weather is automatically implemented as a precautionary measure. No issues have impacted SECO’s electric system thus far. However, we have increased staffing levels should a problem occur. SECO will maintain its cold weather plan for the duration of the current cold snap.” Bowman urged anyone using space heaters as supplemental heat sources to be very careful. He said that heaters should be kept well away from flammables, as well as pets and children. If an electric space heater is being used and the power does go off unexpectedly, it is advisable to turn the heater off to prevent it coming on when the homeowner is not present. That also helps reduce a surge in the power load demand across the SECO system when power is restored. In addition, he urged caution when using fireplaces if the chimney has not been cleaned in the past year and he said outdoor grills should never be a heating option.” Printable PDF
Communitas winners are recognized for specific programs involving volunteerism, philanthropy or ethical, sustainable business practices. Some businesses, organizations and individuals are also recognized as Leadership winners because of their excellence in multiple programs. A complete list of winners can be found on the Communitas website at www.communitasawards.com. November 7, 2011 Bowman said, "Generally speaking, SECO gets very high marks from the members during these surveys. In fact, a series of questions in the survey allows our co-op to be ranked against all other types of electric utilities in the nation on the American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). Since beginning to use the ACSI to make this comparison, SECO's scores from member/customers on satisfaction are amongst the highest of any utility in the country." "We are a not-for-profit, member-owned electric cooperative. That means our focus is on delivering the most reliable, lowest cost electricity possible and best customer service we can to our members. We hope the members will take the time to answer the survey being conducted by NRECA Market Research Services on our behalf," he said. Bowman concluded by noting that the survey process is one of the numerous ways that SECO stays in close touch with its overall membership. He stated that, in a co-op, member thoughts and opinions are important and help guide co-op operations. Link to index of 2012 news releases Link to Index of 2011 news releases Page last updated: Monday, January 23, 2012 |
effort to recognize the spirit of communitas- people helping people. Communitas winners unselfishly give of themselves and their resources, and are changing the way they do business to benefit their communities.