Iowa's electric cooperatives know that strong relationships with member-consumers, decision makers and opinion leaders are vital to the way we do business. In July, the IAEC Board of Directors approved the launch of a new grassroots program, which is an organized effort to influence the outcome of legislative, political and community decisions for the long-term benefit of member-consumers and cooperatives.

The program is built around three key objectives:

1. To have a Key Ambassador for each state and federal legislator;
2. To develop and strengthen existing relationships with opinion leaders and successfully implement a key activity reporting system; and
3. To increase the number of face-to-face meetings cooperatives have with opinion leaders.

In the initial stages, the focus centers on working with directors, managers and employees to serve as Key Ambassadors with state legislators. Eventually, we hope to involve retirees, member-consumers and former Youth Tour participants as well. As an ongoing initiative, two other types of volunteers - Power Advocates and Grassroots Advocates - are encouraged to help support the efforts of Key Ambassadors and with outreach to legislators on a less frequent basis.

The second portion of this initiative is a Grassroots Pilot Project involving six cooperatives -- Maquoketa Valley, Nishnabotna Valley, North West, Sac, Access and Hawkeye. Part of training program for these cooperatives and volunteers is in-depth information on the legislative process and their role in the pilot project.

Iowa's electric cooperatives - focused on initiatives and relationships that foster an awareness of the cooperative way of doing business.