September 2008
Lands’ End Offers Limited-Time 20 Percent Discount
Last Call: Co-op Connections Card Orders
Brand Advisory Committee Slots Open
New Brochure Touts Low-Cost/No-Cost Home Energy Saving Tips
Business Energy Advisor Makes Excellent Tool for Key Accounts
New Co-op Connections Web Site Up and Running
Back-to-School is a Great Time to Get Charged!
Sept. 30 Web Conference Details Energy Efficiency Success Stories
Place Orders Today for 2009 Balloon Calendar
Visit the Touchstone Energy Cooperatives Booth at Regional Meetings
Lands’ End Offers Limited-Time 20 Percent Discount
Lands’ End Business Outfitters is offering a special limited-time promotion to Touchstone Energy co-ops. Now through Sept. 19, co-ops can place orders for high-quality logo apparel at a discount of 20 percent.
Lands’ End has created an online store especially for co-ops. In addition to the special discount, the store offers:
- ability to create custom logos
- guaranteed period return policy
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- discounts on bulk orders
- gift cards
- special resources for co-op Annual Meetings
- large product variety for men and women
- extended sizes
- no required minimums
To order logo apparel, shop in the online store or call 877.312.4567 to reach a Lands’ End Business Outfitters consultant dedicated to serving Touchstone Energy cooperatives. Co-ops can also add their names to a catalog mailing list. Call the number above or send an email to touchstoneenergy@landsend.com.
Last Call: Co-op Connections Card Orders
Order Deadline Extended to Sept. 8
Don't miss out on the incredible savings enjoyed by co-ops members nationwide. Plan to join the 177 Touchstone Energy co-ops already taking advantage of the Co-op Connections member benefit program during the next card and key fob production run.
The program has attracted tremendous interest from businesses in co-op communities (almost 13,000 merchants nationwide offer discounts), and boasts more than 70 national discounts, including the popular pharmacy discount, which qualifies co-ops members for savings on prescriptions at more than 55,000 retail pharmacy locations.
Orders for the third and final print run of the year are due Monday, Sept. 8, with cards and key fobs set to deliver in mid-to-late December. This order form can be used to submit your card and key fob order, while this form will help you order fulfillment collateral. The production schedule and proposed pricing are available to help with your co-op's planning and budgeting.
Learn more about this program by visiting the Co-op Connections section of the Touchstone Energy Web site. Contact Scott Bialick with questions about the program and production run at 703.907.5627 or scott.bialick@nreca.coop.
Brand Advisory Committee Slots Open
Application Deadline is Sept. 12
Touchstone Energy Cooperatives’ advisory committees are seeking applicants to fill vacancies. Several committees, including the newly-formed Residential Energy Advisory Committee, have open slots. Co-op employees are encouraged to complete the attached form to apply for the openings. Ideal candidates should have relevant experience in building the brand and be able to attend meetings three times a year.
The Touchstone Energy Cooperatives Board of Directors will lead the selection process.
Please see the form for additional criteria and information on individual committees. Once the form is complete, applicants can click an electronic ‘submit’ button to apply online. If relevant, applicants are encouraged to work with their Touchstone Energy Regional Representative to apply.
Please submit applications by Sept. 12. Contact Touchstone Energy national staff committee liaisons for more information:
Business Development: Charlie Gloeckner, 703.907.5589
Cooperatives Relations: Ann Maggard, 703.907.5986
Residential Energy: Jim Bausell, 703.907.5553
Standards and Best Practices: Tim Sullivan, 651.686.7477
Strategic Communications: Cynthia Henthorn, 703.907.5575
New Brochure Touts Low-Cost/No-Cost Home Energy Saving Tips
A new brochure available to Touchstone Energy co-ops, '101 Low-Cost/No-Cost Energy-Saving Measures,'
details dozens of free or inexpensive ways co-op members can save energy at home. From water heating to laundry to heating and air conditioning, this resource explains how to save on energy bills with simple modifications to the use of appliances, electronics and lighting.
For more information, contact Jason McGrade at 703.907.6063 or jason.mcgrade@nreca.coop.
Business Energy Advisor Makes Excellent Tool for Key Accounts
Touchstone Energy Cooperatives has teamed up with E-Source to provide a valuable source of information for co-ops and their business customers. The Business Energy Advisor (BEA) provides crucial energy savings information and immediate low-and no-cost energy savings steps. BEA provides insight on energy-related products and services in multiple areas including HVAC, lighting, motors, distributed generation, controls equipment, building insulation, fenestration and more. Business customers will also find thousands of rebates and incentives, sector reports, customer relationship tools and technology assessments.
Integrate the BEA into your co-op’s Web site today! The BEA is user-friendly and can be easily accessed through the Touchstone Energy Cooperatives Web site.
Contact Alan Shedd for more information at alan.shedd@nreca.coop or 770.531.7860.
New Co-op Connections Web Site Up and Running
On August 19, Touchstone Energy Cooperatives unveiled the new and improved Co-op Connections Web site, connections.coop. The goal of the redesigned site is to optimize utility for cardholders and co-ops alike. New features include a zip code proximity search, simple navigation with an emphasis on discount categories, the ability to display multiple business locations and more user-friendly administration capabilities.
A Web conference, held last month, provided an overview of the new site. The presentation given during the Web conference is available online.
For more information about the new Web site Co-op Connections Program, please feel free to contact Scott Bialick at 703.907.5627 or scott.bialick@nreca.coop.
Back-to-School is a Great Time to Get Charged!
Now is an ideal time for Touchstone Energy cooperatives to boost their connection to students and parents
and highlight their commitment to community.
The comprehensive Discovery Education Get Charged! kits are filled with high-quality educational materials that help teachers educate students about electricity and fulfill a requirement of the National Science Education Standards. To date, more than 10,000 kits have been distributed in classrooms (grades 5-9) nationwide.
At just $10 per kit and free shipping, this is a cheap and easy way to help local school systems start the year off right.
The kits and additional student activity books can be ordered online.
For more information, please contact Scott Bialick at scott.bialick@nreca.coop or 703.907.5627.
Sept. 30 Web Conference Details Energy Efficiency Success Stories
We're all familiar with the industry's big push for energy efficiency. But which co-ops are actually succeeding with it? Is it possible to both achieve your co-op's energy efficiency objectives and simultaneously improve member satisfaction?
Find out how two cooperatives are accomplishing just that in a free Web conference on Tuesday, Sept. 30.
In this informative hour, you'll hear how two cooperatives reduced their costs with energy-efficient products and services, beat the competition, and gained credibility with their members. You'll also learn how the Touchstone Energy Cooperatives brand is providing tools your co-op can leverage to follow their example.
Date: Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Time: 1:00 p.m. Eastern (12:00 p.m. Central, 11:00 a.m. Mountain, 10:00 a.m. Pacific)
Speakers:
- Tim Sullivan, Director of C&I Business Development, Touchstone Energy Cooperatives
- Ray Gosney, Executive Vice President, New Hampshire Electric Co-op
- Eddie McKnight, Vice President of Marketing and Public Relations, Berkeley Electric Co-op, SC
Cost: FREE for Touchstone Energy co-ops
Registration: Online registration is available at cooperative.com.
Please register by close of business on Friday, September 26, 2008. Call-in and Web access details for participants to follow. This Web conference is accessible from any Internet location.
Questions? Registration-related: contact Kathryn Momot at 703.907.5707 or at kathryn.momot@nreca.coop. Content-related: contact Tim Sullivan at 651.686.7477 or at tim.sullivan@nreca.coop.
Place Orders Today for 2009 Balloon Calendar
The 2009 edition of the Touchstone Energy Cooperatives Hot-Air Balloon calendar will be available soon, and Cooperative Balloon Associates (CBA) is now accepting orders.
The 10 x 14-inch calendar features beautiful color photographs of the balloon in action across the country, and is an ideal way to keep the Touchstone Energy Cooperatives brand in front of employees, directors and members year-round!
To pre-order calendars, complete the attached order form. Once complete, mail the form to Cooperative Balloon Associates (CBA), 1122 Wall Street, Jacksonville, IL, 62651, or fax to 217.243.4286. Orders can also be submitted by contacting CBA President Aaron Ridenour at 217.243.1615.
To preview some of the photos in the calendar, visit www.cbaballoon.com.
Visit the Touchstone Energy Cooperatives Booth at Regional Meetings
Touchstone Energy Cooperatives will be represented at the NRECA Regional Meetings this fall. Don’t forget to stop by the booth and visit with Touchstone Energy national staff about the latest brand resources!
The latest edition of the Touchstone Energy EXTRA newspaper will be distributed at the Regional Meetings and will also be shipped to brand managers at each Touchstone Energy co-op. The shipments should contain enough copies of EXTRA for each employee.
To request additional copies, contact Alex Rosenberg at alex.rosenberg@nreca.coop.
Editor, Erin Keogh
erin.keogh@nreca.coop
703.907.5572