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Statewide and regional magazines sent from electric cooperatives to consumer-members not only share stories, they also help utilities share costs and creative content. The National Electric Cooperatives Statewide Editors Association, or SEA, a volunteer-led group, helps these publications identify storytelling opportunities, train magazine staff and research cost-saving measures.
SEA members elected new officers in March. Pioneer Senior Vice President of Content Leon Espinoza was elected vice president of SEA. Leon had previously served as secretary-treasurer and oversees three SEA-member publications: Ruralite, Florida Currents and Currents.
“I am thrilled to support the mission of SEA,” says Leon of the post. “Some of the finest community-building, consumer-oriented and public-service journalism anywhere is found on the pages of the electric cooperative magazines, which reach more than 12 million readers each month.”
Vice President of Communications at Alabama Rural Electric Association Cooperatives and editor of Alabama Living Lenore Vickrey was elected president after serving the last two years as vice president. Cally Peterson, editor of North Dakota Living for the North Dakota Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives, was elected secretary-treasurer.
Hundreds of electric cooperatives across America use 32 unique, consumer-focused magazines to tell their story. SEA continues to spotlight the powerful story of how the monthly magazines defy the odds by being incredibly well-consumed by readers who embrace these monthly publications as a trusted friend of the family.
“In rural America, these magazines tether communities and keep members in the know,” says Leon, a former big-city journalist who loves the positive nature of the journalism SEA members produce.
National readership surveys repeatedly back this up, says Leon, making print a smart part of any electric cooperative’s communication program.
“Communication is not a choice of print or digital. For our audiences, it is all of the above,” he says.
About the Statewide Editors Association
The National Electric Cooperatives Statewide Editors Association (SEA) supports electric cooperative statewide consumer publications and the people who produce them through training and education activities. There are 32 statewide magazines, which reach 12 million readers in 42 states served by cooperatives. Combined, statewide magazines are the third largest consumer publication in the United States. Elected officers serve two-year terms. Learn more about the volunteer-led group at sea.coop.
About Pioneer Utility Resources
Pioneer is a not-for-profit communications and marketing cooperative based in Hillsboro, Oregon. Formed in 1956, it provides agency-style communications services to consumer-owned utilities and affiliated organizations in 46 states. Marquee products and services include 11 consumer magazine brands reaching more than 1.3 million U.S. utility households. The cooperative also provides broadband marketing, social media engagement, responsive website design and hosting, podcast production and custom communications services. Pioneer is built to share member stories.
Pioneer also owns Efficiency Services Group, which specializes in energy-efficiency program support and installation services primarily in the West, and NewsData, which publishes industry-leading, independent newsletters covering the utility sector in California and the Pacific Northwest. Pioneer is also the largest shareholder in General Pacific, a Fairview, Oregon-based electric supply company. Learn more at pioneer.coop.