Touchstone Energy Seven on 7

We’re bringing back one of our most inspiring conversations on service excellence! In this special encore episode, we revisit an insightful discussion with Tim Sullivan, President and CEO of Wright-Hennepin Cooperative Electric Association . A former Touchstone Energy colleague and longtime advocate for service excellence, Tim shares the leadership principles and member-focused strategies that hav...

Everything is bigger in Texas—including member engagement! This month on Touchstone Energy's Seven on 7 podcast, we're celebrating the recipient of the Member Engagement Champion Award at Connect 2026. Joining Jana Adams are Alex Dal Santo and Martin Bevins from Texas Electric Cooperatives, who share the strategies, events, and collaborative efforts that have helped strengthen member eng...

This month on T ouchstone Energy’s 7 on 7 podcast, Scott Bialick, Senior Manager of Member Engagement & Business Development at Touchstone Energy® Cooperatives, sits down with Shay Reed from Costco for an insightful conversation about energy strategy, sustainability, and the evolving needs of large commercial and industrial accounts.  From resilience and reliability to battery storage, demand...

This month on Touchstone Energy’s Seven on 7 podcast , we’re diving into one of the most powerful tools available to electric cooperatives— research and member insights .  Joining us is Angelika Hoelger , Research Manager at Touchstone Energy, who walks us through the exciting evolution of the cooperative research portfolio and how it’s delivering more meaningful, actionable insights than ever bef...

It’s time to roll up our sleeves and give back to the communities we serve. What better place to do that than at PowerXChange? As this year’s conference heads back to Tennessee, we’re supporting a local, mobile food bank and bringing back one of our standout episodes focused on the 7th Cooperative Principle—Concern for Community. In this encore conversation from 2023, we hear from two leaders at M...

Live from the NEXT Conference in the beautiful city of Tucson, Arizona, we’re thrilled to bring you an extended episode of the 'Seven on 7 Podcast.' This month, we dive deep into innovative approaches and valuable insights from cooperative leaders. Joining us are Lea Hoover, Director of Member and Strategic Services at Oregon Trail Electric and Jay Buchholz, Manager of Publications and K...

To kick off the new year, Touchstone Energy’s 7 on 7 podcast brings you a heartfelt and inspiring conversation between two leaders: Executive Director Jana Adams and Mary Ann Cristiano, Senior Director of Consumer Marketing. Mary Ann has been a key force behind many of the programs that bring real, day-to-day value to our co-op members—from national advertising and research to member engagement an...

Time flies! As 2025 comes to a close, we’re already setting our sights on an even brighter 2026. To help us finish strong, we’re joined by Terri Bakken, Vice President of Member Service at Minnesota Valley Electric Cooperative. Terri shares practical, creative strategies for boosting engagement and keeping cooperative values front and center. From using sports themes to spark team spirit to making...

In this episode, Executive Director Jana Adams talks with Andrea Walker, Vice President of Marketing and Administration at Sumter EMC (GA), and Rachel Hawkins, Chief Communications Officer at Sam Houston Electric Cooperative (TX), to explore the power of insights from Touchstone Energy’s new Cooperative Advantage Report — our latest national research initiative launched in 2025. In just seven minu...

At Touchstone Energy, we know that developing our employees is at the heart of living our core values. That’s why we’re proud to offer one of our most powerful tools for learning and development: LinkedIn Learning. In this episode, we’re joined by two all-star ambassadors of the program, Keri Ferrell, HR Generalist at East Central Energy (MN), and Karen Johnson, Director of HR at Snapping Shoals E...

Summer is winding down, and as the days get a little cooler and routines settle in, it’s the perfect time to revisit one of our most popular episodes Core Values and Innovation to Meet Community Needs In this encore edition, John Hewa, President and CEO of Rappahannock Electric Cooperative, walks us through how his co-op has leaned into innovation—strengthening reliability, managing data in smarte...

One of our most important annual events is here—our Joint Advisory Meetings, known as JAM! This is where the voices that power our network come together to share meaningful feedback and help shape the future of Touchstone Energy. In this episode, we’re joined by all four of our dedicated committee chairpersons: Carrie Vugteveen, Vice President of Public Relations at Sioux Valley Energy Chellie Phi...

We’ve made it halfway through the year—and we’re still going strong! And so are two incredible Touchstone Energy ambassadors who are leading the way in member engagement: Angela Lyseng, Communications Specialist at Beltrami Electric Cooperative, Inc., and Lea Hoover, Director of Member and Strategic Services at Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative. Both have been recognized as Touchstone Energy membe...

Ready for a mid-year boost of energy and inspiration? Join us for another insightful episode where we talk about communication, creativity, and co-op pride! We're joined by two accomplished communicators, Sarah Farlee, Communications Manager at FreeState Electric Cooperative Inc, and Chelsie Bakken Communications and Marketing Manager at East River Electric as they share their tips for engagi...

Join us for an inspiring and educational episode focused on what drives true excellence in service. That’s right! We’re talking with one of the top service excellence leaders in the field: Tim Sullivan, President and CEO of Wright-Hennepin Cooperative electric Association. As a former colleague of Touchstone Energy, Tim has become a true ambassador for service excellence, now making a big impact i...

April is here! Goodbye cold weather, and hello to blooming colors and fresh ideas! With spring comes exciting news—one of our biggest launches of 2025 is finally here: The Cooperative Advantage. In this energizing episode, we’re diving into the power of member feedback with two incredible guests, both deeply involved with the ACSI American Satisfaction Index—but bringing very different perspective...

Join us in this special edition as we look back at an incredible experience with our Touchstone Energy members who were on the front lines of one of our service projects. You’ll hear from representatives from our valued organizations that attended NRECA’s PowerXChange such as Veteran’s Last Patrol that is joining us again this year. As well as your co-op peers, sharing their firsthand experiences....

February is here, and as always, it brings plenty of sunshine, great weather, and the highly anticipated NEXT Conference! This year, we’re coming to you from Bonita Springs, Florida. Where the focus is all about business development and technology. And who better to break it all down than two incredible leaders in the field? Joining us on this episode are Devin Sonnenfelt, Senior Business Developm...

Happy New Year and welcome to 2025! 🎉 As we wrap up an incredible year for Touchstone Energy, especially in our research programs, we’re kicking off the new year with a bang! Joining us is Angelika Hoelger, Research Manager at Touchstone Energy® Cooperatives. In this episode, Angelika takes us through the amazing accomplishments of 2024 and gives us an exciting glimpse into what’s ahead for 2025....

Join us for our final podcast of the year as we wrap up our series on high-performing cooperatives! This time, we’re diving into the world of broadband and the co-ops leading the charge in bringing this essential service to their members. Who better to share their insights than this month’s guests: Marty Haught, Assistant General Manager/COO of United Cooperative Services, and Tom Stackhouse, Pres...

Join us for this week’s episode, where we reveal the secret ingredient to boosting member engagement. Hear from two cooperatives, both scoring in the 90s on the ACSI survey: Tim Street President & General Manager of Logan County Electric Cooperative and Alli Conine, Director of Member Services and Corporate Communications with Wheatland Electric Cooperative. They share their top tips for membe...

🎶 "Everybody's talking 'bout the 90s..." 🎶 No, we’re not bringing back flannel shirts or boy bands, but we are bringing you something even better! We’re diving into two electric cooperatives that have been consistently hitting top scores in customer satisfaction, landing in the 90s. This week, we welcome Steve Rhodes, CEO of CHELCO in Florida, and Blake House, VP/Marketing an...

We are wrapping up our leadership series on core values with John Hewa, President & CEO of Rappahannock Electric Cooperative. In this episode, John guides us through innovations at his co-op on reliability, data management and expanding affiliates to meet member needs.  We’ll also explore how innovation is not only about embracing new ideas but also adapting it to the traditional ways in which...

Join us for another inspiring conversation as we delve into one of today's hottest topics: Innovation. We're thrilled to have Douglas Remboldt, CEO of NISC, a leader in the field and collaborator with Touchstone Energy sharing his insights. Douglas shares valuable tips on the importance of the connection between technology tools and the value it brings to the member.  We also discuss the...

Join us for this podcast episode where we explore how our core values empower us to shine during the toughest times. We are honored to have Cameron Smallwood, General Manager and CEO of United Cooperative Services, share his co-op’s efforts in rebuilding their financial stability following one of their greatest challenges a few winters ago. Discover how transparency and unwavering integrity can bu...