The 2023 Annual Business Meeting, the culmination of the board of directors voting results and a general membership meeting, was held on Saturday, June 17 at Arrowwood Lodge in Baxter.
Board President, Bob Kangas welcomed members and called the meeting to order, introduced the current Board of Directors and the Director Election Candidates.
John Westerhaus, Survey and Ballot Systems election judge, announced the results of the 2023 Board of Directors election.
In District 1 At-Large, incumbent Bryan McCulloch was elected with 2,458 votes over, Lance Bragstad with 1,179 votes, Lee Midthun with 1,063 votes and Michael Rancour with 843 votes.
Incumbent Gert Roggenkamp was elected as District 2B Director with 2,585 votes over Thomas Lillehei with 1,718 votes and Gary Bakken with 1,239 votes.
In District 3A, incumbent Dwight Thiesse was elected with 2,947 votes over Loren Beilke who received 2,582 votes.
Members of Crow Wing Power had the option to mail in their ballots, hand deliver, or vote electronically via a QR code or through their SmartHub account. Of the 5,594 that were received 529 were received electronically.
During the business meeting, members heard updates from Chief Operating Officer Eric Quale and Chief Financial Officer Susannah Jensen. Bruce Kraemer, CEO, shared a CEO report which recapped last year's storms and the Emily Manganese Project development.
Mark Ronnei, Board Member, presented on the business of the cooperative sharing statistics about membership, mile of line, and renewables. Ronnei also shared the Cooperatives percentage of operating expenses, the debt-to-equity asset ratio, and the Basin Evolving Capability Portfolio.
The reorganizational meeting for the Board of Directors will be held in July prior to the regular board meeting.