Urge your Members of Congress to Support Co-ops in the COVID-19 Relief Package!

Over the past month with COVID-19 we have seen a 10% decrease in sales to our top 20 accounts… Even being conservative and optimistic, if that 10% reduction continues for the remainder of the year, Cotton Electric would experience a decrease in revenue of 3.2 million, which is substantial for a co-op our size. I anticipate the revenue decrease will be even greater than the 10% that we’ve experienced so far, so we are preparing for that possibility.”

Our overall sales are down about 15%, which means almost $5 million dollars a month to us. About 90% of every dollar goes to pay our power bill. We are running our co-op – paying employees, money back into the community – on 10 cents out of every dollar. Our margins are very, very slim.”

It’s important that elected officials – at all levels of government – understand the unique and complex issues that co-op consumer-members and their communities face. Staying engaged through regular contact with our legislators will help achieve this goal. Educating our directors, employees and consumer-members on these issues is vital in order to educate our legislators. I encourage everyone to be involved politically and have their voice heard.”

A powerful grassroots movement is heard and felt when we stand united, letting our voices be heard at the congressional, state and local elections. The members are the foundation of the cooperatives. By informing our member-owners about the important issues of the communities and cooperatives, positive change is made through member engagement!”