On Saturday, October 5th, the Fort Loudoun Electric Cooperative (FLEC) opened the gates of their Operations Center in Vonore, Tennessee, at a little past 6:40 a.m. to the public and saw hundreds of its Membership show up for the annual drive-thru meeting.  Advertised as a drive-thru event between 7 a.m. and 9:30 a.m., the hard-working employees of FLEC opened the gates earlier to accommodate the line of members that had gathered and kept the flow going through until the annual meeting began at 9:30 a.m.  
Mike Wiggins, FLEC’s Board President, presided over the annual meeting that started promptly at 9:30 a.m.   Wiggins called the meeting to order, noting that all board members were present.  The Board Vice President, Lewis Jones, was called upon to provide an invocation and the Cooperative’s General Manager/CEO, Jarrod Brackett, was asked to lead all in the pledge of allegiance to our nation’s flag.  After the opening prayer and pledge, Angela Tallent, the Board Secretary/Treasurer, reported that the Cooperative had to have at least 100 members to attend the event in order to meet the quorum.  Then, she advised that 786 had come through at the time of the meeting opening, easily establishing the quorum.  Tallent explained how the notice of the annual meeting had been sent out via the September issue of The Tennessee Magazine to all of the membership and read the official notice for all in attendance.  Then, Tallent discussed reading the minutes from the 2023 Annual Membership Meeting.  Folling a motion to forgo the minutes being read by James R. Pugh, the District 2 Director, … and, a second from Denny Stephens, the District 9 Director, all in attendance voted in favor of dispensing of the reading of the minutes from the previous year’s meeting.  
Wiggins then advised that the auditor’s report would be presented via a previously recorded message and encouraged all to look at the large screen at the front of the room for the report.  Adam Osborne of Henderson Hutchinson & McCulloch, CPAs, provided the independent auditor’s report of the annual audit performed by them in August of this year.  Osborne reported that he had shared with the Board at their meeting in September that there was a clean opinion with no findings in the annual audit performed.  Osborne shared some bullets about how the Cooperative was positioned to meet and sustain the regulatory requirements of the industry.  Further, he noted how the Cooperative is operating with a positive net equity and in a good financial position to meet the needs of the membership.  
Following the auditor’s report, Wiggins delivered the President’s Report.  Wiggins thanked the membership for taking time to be a part of their Cooperative’s 84th anniversary celebration and commented on how the Cooperative had progressed in several areas.  He thanked the Cooperative’s employees for their efforts to put the event together and to serve the vast service area that the Cooperative serves.  He noted how the membership had grown to over 36,000 members within the past year and a half.  Wiggins encouraged all to get a copy of the annual report, if they had not come through and participated in the drive-thru meeting; he advised that the report would be available on the Cooperative’s website (www.flec.org) following the event.  Wiggins noted how the Cooperative’s board and leadership were focused on safety, reliability, and affordability in their decision-making processes.  
Wiggins noted that the Board had over seventy-one (71) years of experience collectively and recognized each of the eight board members.  He shared that two (2) of the board members had been reappointed to their positions earlier in the year since they had not been opposed.  Lewis Jones and Crystal Greene were recognized for their agreeing to serve another three (3) years.  Upon Wiggins concluding his report on the status of the Cooperative, he recognized Ben Ward for his having completed the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association’s courses to receive the Board Leadership Certification (BLC).  
Wiggins again thanked the employees of the Cooperative and noted that they bring collectively over 1,220 years of service toward the efforts of the Cooperative to serve effectively and efficiently. Wiggins asked the CEO to report briefly.  Brackett asked all of the membership to help the Cooperative maintain safety by calling 8-1-1 before digging.  He advised that the Cooperative would be focusing some efforts toward education and communication around safe digging over the next year.  Brackett reported on the sound financial and operational position that the Cooperative was in and encouraged all to read the annual report for further understanding.  Brackett noted that FLEC’s team and contracted assistance was great and thanked them for their efforts.  He stated, “Our Cooperative is in a good position due to their efforts and the efforts of our board to plan for the future.”  FLEC had built a second substation in the Madisonville area and would soon be complete in expanding the substation in Vonore in order to meet the demand for electricity experienced from growth to the area.  He noted that the Cooperative has very little debt.  Further, he shared that the Cooperative had provided assistance to utilities in upper East Tennessee and North Carolina earlier in the month following Hurricane Helena.    He shared that some of the Cooperatives crews were in the coastal area of Georgia at present assisting in recovery efforts of a cooperative there.  Thoughts and prayers for all of those impacted by this terrible storm were voiced.  
Amy Kirkland, FLEC’s Corporate Services Specialist, assisted Wiggins by drawing the names of four (4) Cooperative members who received a $500 scholarship applicable toward trades schools or college classes.  Wiggins stated that, “these scholarships go a long way to help our youth and adults still attending college and trades schools.”  Wiggins summed it up by voicing a thanks again to all who made the event such a success!  He advised that the door prizes would be awarded on Monday and posted to the website for all to review by the public. The group adjourned at a little past 10 a.m.  This meeting was recorded and placed on the FLEC website for the membership and public to view on Monday, October 7th.   
Some remarks and information were shared after the board’s organizational meeting which followed the annual meeting.  The Board voted by paper ballot to elect:  Lewis Jones to serve as the Board President, James R. “J.R.” Pugh to serve as the Board Vice President, and Angela Tallent to continue to serve as the Secretary/Treasurer.  The Board noted their appreciation for the efforts of the Cooperative employees to assist those impacted by Hurricane Helene.  The board further approved future support toward assisting the utilities and the citizens impacted in upper Tennessee by this tragic event.  FLEC had 810 members register for this event according to Lisa Lingerfelt, FLEC’s Vice President of Human Resources and Administrative Services.  Lingerfelt explained, “Several of our membership brought the family with them to participate… approximately 1,205 flowed through the warehousing area this year.  Clearly another successful celebration of our cooperative’s accomplishments!”