East River Electric Power Cooperative recently presented service awards to 25 employees with years of service ranging from five to 25 years.
“I extend my congratulations to the recipients of this year’s service awards and express my gratitude for their unwavering dedication to East River Electric. The significant number of employees we celebrated serves as a genuine testament to the steadfast commitment of our workforce,” said East River CEO/General Manager Bob Sahr.
Substation equipment and PCB foreman, Russ Odegard, one of this year’s service award recipients, began working at East River 25 years ago. “I was initially hired as an apprentice relay technician and over the years I witnessed many changes to technology. The change from SJ5 regulator panels with magnetic amplifiers to the most current digital regulator control panels shows the advancement of technology. East River’s commitment to help others no matter if it is other East River employees or employees at our member co-ops really resonates with my personal values. I have many family members living on farms in rural areas and being able to help provide a service that benefits them really keeps me motivated,” said Odegard.
Angie Neises, senior REED loan officer, celebrated her 25-year work anniversary. “In my job, every day is new and different. My work is interesting, challenging, and rewarding. Even though I’ve been working for East River and the REED Fund for 25 years, it is constantly changing and there is a lot of variety,” shared Neises. “It’s been very rewarding to watch the REED Fund grow. We have loaned over $100 million through the REED Fund and I have been here for most of that. I wish I could go back and visit with every borrower we have had in the last 25 years and see how their business is doing today. What REED has accomplished is really something that all the cooperatives can be proud of and something that I am truly proud to be a part of.”
East River celebrated the years of service awards with a luncheon held at the Dakota Prairie Playhouse.
A listing of the awards is as follows:
- Five years: Matt Hastings, Tim Fuerst, Jake Schaefers, Matt Tesch, Mike Jaspers, Michael Olson, Jordan Kisor, Tanner Engbrecht, Austin Lueck, Kyle Veitz
- Ten years: Dan Rinehart, Casey Anderson, Tyler Frost, Preston Munk, Justin Olson, Chris Studer
- Fifteen years: Jason Ledeboer, Corey Schwinger, Mark Hoffman
- Twenty years: Travis Rude, Clay Reagle
- Twenty-Five years: Denny Fouberg, Angie Neises, Russ Odegard, Brian Kogel
Photo caption: East River Electric service awards were presented to (back, left) Tim Fuerst, Mike Jaspers, Jordan Kisor, Kyle Veitz, Jake Schaefers, Dan Rinehart, Chris Studer (middle, left) Matt Tesch, Austin Lueck, Matt Hastings, Michael Olson, Preston Munk, Casey Anderson, Justin Olson, Tyler Frost (front, left) Jason Ledeboer, Corey Schwinger, Mark Hoffman, Russ Odegard, Angie Neises, Denny Fouberg, Brian Kogel, Travis Rude, and Clay Reagle.