Your Home Team

Published by Bob Hance on Monday, January 4, 2021 in Community

While we’ve all spent far too much time in our homes over the last ten months, for most of us home remains the sanctuary where our most beautiful and cherished memories are made.

We’re just coming out of a very different holiday season, yet families still gathered in smaller groups to give thanks over food and fellowship, and sparkling lights danced across yards and twinkled inside homes in celebration of Christmas. Now we’re settled into our warm homes for the winter season, curling up with our hot coffee while watching our favorite Hulu or Netflix show, or connecting with family members and friends with the now-all-too-familiar Zoom platform.

You probably rarely think about it, with the exception of the occasional outage, but all these experiences that help define home and family are available because of massive infrastructure, people, and planning very much behind the scenes of your life and living. For more than 80 years we have powered the rural space with electricity, lighting your home, brewing your coffee, drying your towels, and powering your technology. For more than 20 years we have delivered your propane, filling your tub with hot bubbly water and keeping your family warm and safe during the cold Michigan winters. And for more than five years now we have bridged the digital divide with fiber internet, connecting families across the miles, opening up the world of information and data sharing for homebased work and school, and bringing endless entertainment options through streaming services.

Behind the scenes is a team of nearly 150 employees, your home team. Each of these individuals, regardless of title or department, strives to live out our mission of delivering first-in-class innovations and solutions where others won’t. We work together to make houses into homes by offering comfort, convenience, and connections.

But the concept of your home team extends beyond the services we deliver that add value to your life and living. We’re also part of your home community as your locally-owned and operated cooperative. We share common spaces in supermarkets, sanctuaries and soccer fields. One day we may be answering your call, filling your propane tank, or installing your fiber service, and the next day we may be pulling up behind you in the car wash, sitting a couple of tables over in a mutually-favorite restaurant, or coaching your kids on the basketball court. Many of our employees share a very important title with you: customer. When your service is impacted, their service is impacted. We never take you or your service experience for granted because it’s real to us.

This year we’re featuring members of your home team in many of our publications, advertisements, billboards and commercials. You’ll likely see familiar faces, like on the cover of this month’s issue, as you’re out and about in the community. Again, these are your neighbors who work tirelessly to ensure you have all of the comfort, convenience, and connections your need. Your home team.