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What You’ll Learn
Two Kentucky co-ops teamed up to foster community connections through casual coffee meetups. From discussing community concerns to sharing stories about the co-ops’ histories, these meetups make a real impact. Learn why member engagement matters and how to create a community meetup of your own!
Guest Speaker
Nicole Randall and Abigail Nuetzman
Show Notes
Transcripts are lightly edited for clarity and readability.
Intro: StoryConnect, a Pioneer Podcast, helps you discover ideas to shape your stories and connect with your community. Love this episode? Follow StoryConnect on your favorite podcast platform and YouTube so you don't miss your next great idea.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Meeting members where they are. Let's have Coffee with the Co-ops. That's what we'll be talking about on this episode of The StoryConnect Podcast. Hi, I'm your host, Megan McKoy-Noe, one of the storytellers at Pioneer Utility Resources, and I am joined by two amazing co-op cheerleaders. First, we have Nicole Randall. She's the marketing and sales cheerleader at South Central Rural Telecommunications Co-op, and Abigail Nuetzman, communications specialist at Farmers RECC in south central Kentucky. They share parts of the community, and when I heard that they also share caffeine with their members, I had to learn more about this amazing partnership. So, Nicole, Abigail, let me know, why did you decide to pair your CEOs with caffeine for community meetups? That's brave. Like you've got jittery members sometimes or really happy members, you know. But where did the idea come from?
Nicole Randall: Well, we like excitement. So we're like, let's just throw it all in a pot and see what happens. No, no, we wanted to meet members where they are. So, we work together on a lot of different avenues and blessed to be together a lot. So we thought we'd get them together in a place where they are already and come to them and introduce our leadership teams and just give them a moment.
Abigail Nuetzman: Absolutely. Absolutely. It's another way to connect with our membership and to meet them, like Nicole said, where they are instead of having another event where they're coming to us, or they have to initiate that contact with the co-op. Instead, we're stepping out into the community and initiating that contact with them. With the end goal of getting closer with our members and building member advocates, so it's been a lot of fun.
Nicole Randall: And it feels way different when you get to come into your coffee shop, you order some coffee, you sit in this great atmosphere, and you just relax and have conversations with people. That's a whole different vibe than walking into our big doors, you know, and being greeted behind, you know, our logos and glasses and everything. So it's a way to just kind of give a moment, you know, and see each other. And we got the whole leadership team out there. And it's a good, it's a good moment.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Well, I gotta say, for folks watching on YouTube, you have the logo behind you, Coffee with the Co-ops. And while y'all are talking, I'm noticing that the coffee cup that's there has a conversation bubble as some of the crema on top. And that's beautiful because it is casual. It's subtle, but it comes across in what you're doing. And you don't just have it in one coffee shop all the time, right? You change it up to different coffee shops around your community.
Abigail Nuetzman: Right.
Nicole Randall: Right. We both have large coverage areas. It's about 11 [inaudible] each. And then, but we have our main counties is where we do this. We have three that we focus on. And it's great because they all have their own personality. We're actually setting in the one that's in Barren County, Kentucky. So it's south central Kentucky. So we're actually setting in the one where we have that one. And it's their own vibe, and we meet their own unique people. And that, it goes along with being with people where they're at.
Abigail Nuetzman: For sure. For sure. And, we do one coffee shop in one district per quarter. So for quarter one, we're here in Barron County. And in quarter two is Hart County. And then we skip quarter three because it's annual meeting season for us. But then quarter four, we're in Metcalfe County, so it kind of spaces it out throughout the year. We get to meet different members in different communities, and it's really, really special.
Nicole Randall: So we have two coffee shops, and then one is an old, it's the old school cafe, which used to be the cafeteria in the old school that they had before they built the new one. And it's now led by students. And so that's in the Metcalfe County one that we've got coming up. And so we'll go in there to do that one. And then one's on Main Street, and we're overlooking the beautiful downtown Glasgow Square now. Everything about it just feels good about this whole.
Abigail Nuetzman: Yeah, it's almost like a hallmark.
Nicole Randall: It is.
Abigail Nuetzman: Kind of. Yeah. [inaudible]
Nicole Randall: Totally.
Abigail Nuetzman: We're in the town square. We're at the coffee shop. We're meeting the community. Like it's very just wholesome.
Nicole Randall: Yes.
Abigail Nuetzman: And, like intimate in a way, and just very relaxed. So I mean, it's just an incredible feeling.
Megan McKoy-Noe: So you set the stage or the hallmark movie, you know, for this. What kind of questions are folks asking your leadership team in this relaxed atmosphere?
Nicole Randall: A lot of it depends on what's going on in the moment, you know. So, if it's, you know, colder, and there's some storms or outages or something like that, we might discuss that. Or we might just discuss overall membership, you know, and also it could go from just stories. You know, I learned a great story about people just come up and talk to us about our history because we both have great history. So 75 years for us.
Abigail Nuetzman: Oh gosh, we're at 80 something now.
Nicole Randall: Yeah. So we have great history between us. And so they'll come up and talk about, things that they remember happening in the past. And so, a matter of fact, I'm sitting, oh, I don't know, ten yards from where SCRTC started 75 years ago, where [inaudible] members came together and discussed that. And it is at the building, right, that I'm looking at right now. So and now I'm here 75 years later and talking about that. So we hear a lot of history stuff too.
Abigail Nuetzman: We absolutely do. And now that you mention it, I mean, like, our first building is just this way right down the road.
Nicole Randall: Yeah. That's right.
Abigail Nuetzman: So it is really, really cool. And I mean, we do get some industry specific questions that our CEOs get asked, but a lot of times it is just like, what's going on in the community. Or let's swap stories. Or because it's a small town community, it's, how's your mom and them? And, you know, it's just we all know each other, and it's this open space where we can have these conversations. You know, it's one-on-one. And we sometimes don't get that at an annual meeting or –
Megan McKoy-Noe: Oh, no, no.
Abigail Nuetzman: other co-op events. So that makes it different and unique.
Nicole Randall: And it is perfect because we're on The StoryConnect Podcast. So we talk stories, and we have people that come in with questions like, I've seen them come in on with sheets like I need, I want to ask these questions. And then I hear, and I see people come in and then we just, we just talk about things. Matter of fact, the last one we had in Hart County, somebody brought in a picture of their ball team and gave us a picture of some teams that we had sponsored. You know, and they're like, look, we won the, what did they won? They won their conference and like, here's our picture. And, we just want to thank you. And I was like, oh my gosh, you know what I mean? And so, it's pretty special actually. When you like, that's what it's all about is connecting because we are co-ops. That is what it's all about. It's about our members, and it's about hearing from them and making decisions for them. So it's a –
Megan McKoy-Noe: Not just for them, but with them. You know, having those conversations so that they're – I love that they, some of them came with like pages of to ask about this and this and this, but the fact that they feel comfortable enough approaching y'all, and you've created this space for those conversations where they don't have to go and sign in and wait to speak to somebody or make an appointment or whatnot. I think that's really special. So, and I love that you do it together because it, I think it's more powerful when cooperatives are working together, especially when you've got neighboring co-ops like Farmers and SCRTC. Y'all share so much of your service territory. And then just expanding that so folks can ask questions about whatever they have with a utility. They're able to approach y'all. I just think it's really cool. Now, do you have debriefs after one of your Coffee with the Co-ops where you talk about what they asked and like talk to management about, you know, how they felt it went to set yourself up for the next one?
Nicole Randall: Marketing. We always speak because that's what we do. We like [inaudible].
Megan McKoy-Noe: That's what we do. Yeah.
Nicole Randall: We always, we always do that. And we've got, and we're always in tune for ideas. So, if not together, at least the marketing are talking.
Abigail Nuetzman: Yeah. Yeah for sure.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Nice. Has any of the member feedback that you've heard from these highly caffeinated meetings changed the way that your co-ops do business?
Abigail Nuetzman: I would say a little bit. We've definitely had members come in and ask questions, maybe about an industry specific thing that's going on in the community. And we've gone back and been like, okay, well, we've given our MSRs, our member service reps, some talking points about this issue. But you know what? The members, they're worried about something completely different. So let's add that in there. That way we're getting ahead of that conversation. We're being more member focused in our approach to answering whatever it may be. So we've definitely done that with some of the feedback we've gotten. Yeah.
Nicole Randall: Actually, a real time one, we had our – well, data center talk is big all over the area. And so, so it is here, just like it is all over our rural counterparts across the country. And so we have been getting questions about that. And actually, the former CEO, even just that, it was that next day did a larger interview with the newspaper or our online newspaper. And so, you know, just from taking those questions, you know, we realize, okay, we got to get information out to the people more. So that was just a recent real time example.
Abigail Nuetzman: For sure. And I mean, those data centers, that's exactly what we did with those talking points. We a member came in and was talking to our CEO, and it was like, okay, well, that's what you're worried about. That's what we're going to address in these talking points. And so, giving those back out to the MSRs maybe slightly updated, that way we are answering some of your concerns, and we're approaching it the way that you need.
Nicole Randall: And in a communications industry, you have to communicate, you know, so you have to understand what people want and meet that accordingly.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Well, yeah, communications, you know, back in school, they're like, you have to go back and forth. You have to know what people are hearing so that you know how to change what you're saying to make sure you're getting your point across. It is a back and forth. It's not just a one way, you know, megaphone going out. So I love that you're using Coffee with the Co-ops as a chance to hear what your members are hearing, what they're thinking, and then modifying what you're saying, because that's the essence of communications. That's how you know it's working really well. Now, you mentioned that you ended up having your CEO doing an interview with the media one day after you had one of your Coffee with the Co-ops, because you identified something that folks are really concerned about. And we love as communicators and marketing pros. We love coming up with ideas like this. Like, I geek out when I see things like your logo for Coffee with the Co-ops, which I love. And you know, it's fun, but you've got to keep the boss happy.
Nicole Randall: Absolutely.
Megan McKoy-Noe: So they show up at Coffee with the Co-ops.
Nicole Randall: That's a good idea.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Yes. So how have, so you've got two different CEOs. How have your CEOs reacted to this? What have you heard from them about what they think of Coffee with the Co-ops?
Abigail Nuetzman: Oh man. On our side of the house, I mean our CEO loves it.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Yeah.
Abigail Nuetzman: He loves getting out in front of the members. And so just being able to meet them and to have one-on-one conversation, especially since he's not originally from here. He's actually from Florida. And so being able to connect with the community in that way is extra important and special for him, so he loves it. I think every time we have one, he comes back with a story and he's like, I heard this from our members like, isn't it so cool? And all that, so he loves it.
Nicole Randall: And our CEO has been with our company for over 40 years with the same company.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Just a little while.
Nicole Randall: And it's just, just a little while. So, but it's just like all of us. It is easy to get caught up in the whirlwinds, and just dealing with you can never leave your office, right? Because you're just dealing with everything. So this is another opportunity to step out and look at you, look at it from a different point of view and see how, things maybe really are when you're not. We can't see the forest for the trees. You know, you get out, and you see a tree. So you see kind of what's going on. Be a tree, Megan.
Megan McKoy-Noe: I like that. Be a tree. No, I want to be a seed from a tree floating and finding new areas to.
Nicole Randall: Amen.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Yeah. Yeah. No, we could go down a whole other rabbit hole on that. Okay.
Nicole Randall: [inaudible] I'm back. I like that. No, I'm here.
Megan McKoy-Noe: No, no, we got to stay, we got to stay with the coffee. Okay. This started as a Farmers RECC event. And how long ago, Abigail, did you guys start this?
Abigail Nuetzman: Oh, man. Two years ago? About two years ago because I think we did a full cycle of it just Farmers. That a whole one year, and then that second year, we were like, well, you know what, let's invite South Central and see if we can make it a joint event. So yeah, two years. Is that right?
Nicole Randall: Yeah. Right.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Okay. So, and so that, y'all teamed up in 2025. It's been a joint effort ever since. And I love that you reached out. Was Nicole like attending coffee with the co-op? Because you didn't have to ask. Were you just like attending and saying, "Pick me, pick me!"
Nicole Randall: Oh, we always support each other's events, you know, together and do that too. But, no, actually, you know, they approached us and we're just honored every time we get because, and it's good for the public too, to be together and see each other working together. It makes you, you know, you feel safe, you know, I guess because we're out there, and we're part of the community. And if they can see us together and, you know, it's a good vibe all the way around.
Abigail Nuetzman: I mean, that's the whole co-op business model, you know, cooperation among cooperatives. So, it's just another way to display that in our local community.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Well, have there been other benefits from working together on the events? Because I'm assuming you split costs maybe, and which might help? But –
Nicole Randall: Right.
Abigail Nuetzman: It absolutely does. We do split costs, but then also it's opened up other avenues. I mean, we co-sponsor the local Cattlemen's Association meetings now. So both of our CEOs take turns speaking at those.
Megan McKoy-Noe: I love that.
Nicole Randall: It allows us just like any partnership when you work with people, it's always better because it always opens up your world more and then you're able to, also do more things maybe that you couldn't because of cost or because of location or just different avenues. And we all have different contacts. And so it just, everything gets bigger and more love, you know, and just kind of it spreads it out. So, yeah, there's a lot of benefits. There always is with partnering with people, right?
Megan McKoy-Noe: Yeah. 100%. I love that. And, you mentioned that it helps make more things possible, which is the beauty of cooperation really. So talk to me for folks that hear this and think we should totally be doing this, we need Coffee with the Co-ops in our community too, which I think you do. If you're listening now, do it, do it. But talk to me about the turnout and your budget. How many cups of coffee are you buying for folks? Are mochas and lattes included or just a cup of Joe? How does that work out?
Nicole Randall: No. You get what, you come on in and get what you what you want. So we don't limit it to, you know, what kind you want.
Abigail Nuetzman: We'll pay for all beverages. So if it's water, tea, coffee, specialty coffee, we're covering all of that. The only thing we won't purchase is food items, essentially.
Nicole Randall: And it varies too, because, at one of them, they don't have specialty coffees. So, but that is totally the place to be though. We're at the right location. But that is, they don't have that, so that'll be a different cost than if you do. And then one of them is right on the route to the school. It's like right beside a school. And so if we do it in the morning, that one's always more because it's like you literally go right past it, and there's plenty of parking. So that one would be more. So it's just kind of different at each place where it is.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Yeah. Do you, what do you set aside though like for an annual budget?
Abigail Nuetzman: I would say we're not spending over like $1,000 a year. And that's for each of our accounts.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Oh, that's not bad.
Abigail Nuetzman: It's relatively low cost, and that's why we love it so much. I mean, you get to get in front of your members at a really low cost. And especially when we're splitting it, and we're doing it together. I mean, in the grand scheme of things, it's not a lot.
Nicole Randall: Really, talking bang for buck. You know, if you do that or so, you know, you've got just banners and what you spend here, and we do in social media. Because it's local advertising, you know, because you're getting your local people, so you don't have the expense of larger scale advertising. And then, you know, we get a good recap and people sharing their photos and because we're always like, hey, take a selfie. You know, so it's really genius.
Abigail Nuetzman: Yeah. And I will say from the advertising perspective, that's something that has been great in teaming up because we're getting the word out to double as many people because you're advertising it. We're advertising it, and I think our turnout has been reflective of that. Because I think we've had greater turnout since.
Nicole Randall: Yes.
Abigail Nuetzman: Making it a joint.
Nicole Randall: Absolutely.
Abigail Nuetzman: So it's been nice just to get more community members in here and talk to both of us.
Nicole Randall: Yeah. Because it's in their magazine, which is super popular. Our magazine, which is really good because you all work with it. And, you know, both of our social platforms, and then when people like see each other in the morning, they're all happy with their cups of coffee. We get that, and we get tagged. So, it definitely works. It's a great model.
Abigail Nuetzman: Yeah.
Nicole Randall: We'll be glad to talk to anybody that wants help.
Abigail Nuetzman: For sure.
Megan McKoy-Noe: I love that. And then we were talking before we got started about other ways that you can take this idea and move it further. So we were talking about specialty blends that you could use because I know some people do that for anniversaries, but there's a lot of stuff you can do.
Abigail Nuetzman: That's a great idea there.
Nicole Randall: I made notes. Yeah, we're totally going to come up with our own coffee blend next time. We've got ideas.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Oh, for October, you could have a great time with this for National Co-op Month. I know, I know. It's exciting.
Nicole Randall: You know, you could do a little coffee, a little chai. No, it's got two things going on with a co-op.
Megan McKoy-Noe: I'm a chai girl myself, so I like this. I like this a lot. So what other ways are y'all working together in the community? You mentioned now that you're co-sponsoring, I think, the Cattlemen's Association meetings.
Nicole Randall: Yeah, we've worked together with that. We actually were just did that. That's new. And then it's fun because we run into each other all the time into local. We were just twice last week or twice. Yeah, twice last week at ribbon cuttings and speaking. We're both on similar boards with the chambers and the executive team meetings there. We've done radio, different radio spots together that weren't necessarily even with the coffee with co-ops, just, you know, talking that way together. It's just, it's good to be seen together, you know? Absolutely.
Abigail Nuetzman: And something really cool too is one of our satellite offices in Munfordville. We actually share an office. So one side is South Central and one side is Farmers. And that's been that way for.
Nicole Randall: As long as I can remember.
Megan McKoy-Noe: So there's layers to your cooperative history together.
Nicole Randall: There are layers.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Which I love and I like that y'all are finding new ways to work together, new ways to blend your strengths into something really special for your membership. It's pretty cool. You were mentioning earlier the magazines and how y'all both have magazines where you're sharing what's going on. Are you asking for folks to give you ideas for stories for the magazines at Coffee with the Co-ops?
Nicole Randall: That, even if we weren't asking, that would happen. No? We have gotten ideas for stories at our coffee with co-ops to do that too, so.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Do you put copies of your magazines out on the tables when folks come in?
Nicole Randall: We have, yeah, we have brought them, we have brought them out before do that too. But now, we're just going to have a table and do that even more. But yes, we bring them and have them. I have a whole slew of things that we bring to carry out that way.
Megan McKoy-Noe: What else do y'all bring?
Nicole Randall: Well, we've got different banners, and we also have our collateral. So if people want information about all the different services that we offer, you know, our streaming service, our security services, our point to point Wi-Fi and different things like that. So we're just, we try to be prepared for any question that someone may ask.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Very cool.
Nicole Randall: Also, we always have notes and papers to take notes. So whenever we don't know things, we always get back to it.
Megan McKoy-Noe: So if a utility, and the reason I'm asking that is because we always try to give folks an idea, something kind of cool that folks are doing and then tell them what they'll need to do to succeed. So the budget is part of that. The collateral, what kind of stuff y'all bring out. But also it's just finding the partner, which I think is huge too. So if a utility hears this and they think this is amazing, and they want to create a regular community event like this, where should they start?
Abigail Nuetzman: I would say with establishing your goals. I mean, what do you need in your community? Do you need to get out and be in front of your members more? And then if so, what are those pillars in your community? It might not be your local coffee shops. Is it your local library? Where are your members at? And that's where you should go if that's what you need in your community.
Nicole Randall: It's about, each community is unique and special. And that's why we love small, rural communities. Everyone's unique and special. But yeah, you would start writing down where you want to go. How can you most have your most impact? What would be? But you want to make, you want to keep it, if you're doing a coffee with co-ops, you want to keep it an intimate feel. So, you know, we have an amazing convention center in our area, but that wouldn't have in this particular, we use it all the time, but this wouldn't have a good feel in that. So you need a smaller intimate setting. And also good partnerships with where you're going to have the location, where you're going to meet. And so you would outline it that way. Yeah.
Megan McKoy-Noe: I love that. Start out with your goal, identify where your members are and find ways to meet them where they are, whether that's with caffeine or whatever else might help them in those areas. I like it. Well, thank you both so much for sharing your story and your caffeine with utility pioneers this morning. She is Nicole Randall from SCRTC and Abigail Nuetzman from Farmers RECC. And I'm your host, Megan McKoy-Noe at Pioneer Utility Resources. And until we talk again, keep telling your story.
Outro: StoryConnect is a production of Pioneer Utility Resources. Send questions to hello@pioneer.coop and learn more about our member owned marketing agency at pioneer.coop.