Co-op Member Meeting Recap: Pioneer Members Meet Rising Costs with Cooperation

Rising costs and stories of meeting shared challenges with steady leadership and cooperation were the themes of Pioneer Utility Resources’ Cooperative Member Meeting on May 8.

During the podcast-styled virtual meeting, 19 new utility members were welcomed. Staff and co-op members heard about Pioneer’s growth and heard the results of magazine and member surveys. Two board members, Scott Peters and Kevin Beyer, were reelected. Rural broadband advocate Keith Gabbard joined the board, replacing retiring board member Carrie Huckeby.

In a celebration of shared industry storytelling, Lydia Walters from the Electric Cooperatives of Mississippi won Pioneer’s 2025 D’Avanzo Communications Leadership Award.

“Lydia introduced new ideas to the industry through Mississippi’s statewide magazine, website and through the association’s legislative roster app,” Pioneer CEO Michael Shepard says. “As one nominator said, ‘Lydia doesn’t just lead—she lifts.’ This award is well deserved.”

Managing Print, Paper Costs

Rising costs—and how Pioneer’s working with utilities to find savings and added value—took center stage.

Tariffs affect the cost of paper, most of which comes from Canada, and Pioneer expects another U.S. Postal Service rate increase in July.

“Early models show postal increases in the 14%-22% range for many of you, though a few will still fall in the 9%-13% range,” Shepard says.

“Printing costs can be offset by bulk orders,” Board Chair Dave Lock says. “We are a bigger buyer in marketplace when we work together, and this cooperation results in shared savings.”

Pioneer’s team is hard at work finding ways to help Utility Pioneers manage printing and mailing costs. Get a list of the top five USPS promotions on Pioneer’s best practices blog.

Readers Want Print

How do readers feel about their magazine? Working with American MainStreet Publications, Pioneer’s editorial team surveyed Ruralite, Currents and Florida Currents magazine readers.

“Readers want stories they can hold,” Shepard reports.

According to the magazine readership survey, 95% of readers overall prefer print compared with 5% who want digital versions of the magazine. That number stays true for younger readers, too; out of consumers between 18 and 34, 89% prefer a print magazine. Almost half of all readers spend at least a half hour with the magazine. After reading the magazine, 15% did something to make their home more efficient and one-third of readers pass the magazine on to a friend to share stories and ideas.

“It’s great to know people not only get the magazine, but the stories also spark action,” Shepard says. “My favorite number is how Ruralite and Florida Currents make folks feel. Eighty-eight percent say the magazine makes them appreciate their utility more. That’s a win for all of us.”

In response to this demand, six utility or broadband magazines launched in Washington, Tennessee and Indiana over the last 18 months. The combined magazine circulation for Utility Pioneers rose from 1.3 million to 1.47 million last year.

Pioneer Pulse Stays Strong

Every two years Pioneer asks members and clients to weigh in on how well the communications co-op is serving them. More people than ever before gave feedback in the 2025 Pioneer Pulse member survey, up 59% from the 2023 survey.

Pioneer’s Net Promoter Score stayed strong at 9.2. Member satisfaction and ease of doing business with Pioneer stayed steady. The biggest increase in satisfaction relates to magazines and digital ads.

“We found two shared pain points with utilities—overwhelming workloads and the struggle to create engaging content,” Shepard says. “Fortunately, those are areas where we can help. Thanks to everyone who offered feedback. The board uses these survey results to help guide our future goals.”

Steady Leadership

Utility leaders are elected by members to guide the communications co-op through Pioneer’s Board of Directors. Three of the board’s nine seats were up for election in 2025:

• District 2, Alaska, Hawaii and Washington
• District 3, at large
• District 8, Midwest

Nominations were open through March 24. Two incumbents, District 2 Board Member Scott Peters and District 8 Board Member Kevin Beyer, ran for reelection unopposed.

District 3 Board Member Carrie Huckeby stepped down after serving the last two years.

“Carrie brought a wonderful trifecta of knowledge to her time on the board,” Shepard says. “She worked directly in the telecom space, as a leader of the Tennessee telecommunications statewide and in the agency space helping utilities with the communications need. That experience helped Carrie be a very insightful member of our board. We are better for her participation.”

Members used the Pioneer Votes platform to reelect two Utility Pioneers and elect one new board member:

• District 2: Scott Peters, CEO of Columbia Rural Electric Association in Walla Walla, Washington.
• District 3: Keith Gabbard, CEO of Peoples Rural Telephone Cooperative, in McKee, Kentucky
• District 8: Kevin Beyer, General Manager of Farmers Mutual and Federated Telephone, in Minnesota.

They serve with the six other Utility Pioneers who guide the cooperative’s strategic goals. The board meets this fall to outline strategic goals for 2026-2028. Send questions or comments for your board members to board@pioneer.coop.

Slim Returns, But Strong Resiliency

Amidst news of rising costs, Pioneer announced co-op member credits of $35,013, a 0.3% return on members’ eligible spending with Pioneer in 2024.

“While it’s a smaller return, it comes with a promise that we’re doing whatever we can to help you offset rising costs with cooperation,” reported Pioneer Chief Financial and Administrative Officer Matthew Pierce. “The good news is that as a co-op, we set aside money for unexpected costs.”

Historically Pioneer returns unused funds as co-op member credits. In 2024 Pioneer returned a record amount of the money utility members paid for goods and services. The co-op member credits are slimmer this year, but the health of the co-op remains strong. Checks will reach utility members in July or early August.

Since Pioneer was founded by utilities in 1956, the co-op has returned $4.3 million to members.

Despite low returns this year, the drive to meet rising costs with cooperation remains strong.

In 2024, the co-op welcomed 19 new members from Arizona, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas and Washington. This brings Pioneer’s membership to 236 Utility Pioneers. Those are utilities who signed up to join the co-op, but we work with many more—in 2024 we worked with 412 utilities, broadband providers and statewide associations in 42 states.

Membership is available exclusively to not-for-profit utilities and the associations serving them. Members must subscribe to at least one Pioneer service. Co-op membership isn’t required to work with Pioneer, but it has great benefits, including the ability to vote for directors and receive co-op member credits.