At the beginning of July, Mountain View Electric Association, a nonprofit electric cooperative headquartered in Falcon, welcomed its eighth chief executive officer in its 81-year history. MVEA serves more than 52,000 members in eight counties. Ruth Marks replaced Jim Herron, the longest serving CEO in MVEAís history. The New Falcon Herald sat down for an interview with Marks in July.NFH: What brought you to Colorado? †Where do you live?RM: When I graduated with my Masterís Degree in Business Administration at the University of Wyoming, there were no jobs in the state. Wyoming is sort of a boom-and-bust state with oil and gas being the predominant industries. A recruiter from the Denver branch of the Federal Reserve Bank was recruiting on campus, I interviewed and got a job offer. I worked in downtown Denver for about four years and then I went to work at United Power, which is another electric distribution cooperative. Iíve lived in Colorado for 32 years now. I now live north of Falcon in Black Forest.NFH: Talk about your previous industry experience.RM: United Power is like MVEA in that itís a distribution coop and a member of Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association Inc. When I got the job, my intention was to stay there just three years to get some good experience. But two-and-a-half-years in, the general manager encouraged me to apply for assistant general manager, and I got the job. I found myself as a young female in a completely male-dominated industry. I didnít have any background in engineering, have never been a lineman, and a lot of people had to be convinced that I could do the job. I held that position for 13 years, supervising engineering, operations and member services. It was a steep learning curve, but that job certainly prepared me for my job at Tri-State, where I ended up managing the transmission maintenance department, which is basically all linemen, substation techs and telecom techs. Altogether, the maintenance department has around 230 employees.All of this helped set the groundwork for my new role at MVEA. Over the years Iíve had the opportunity to get to know and work with Jim Herron, several board members and employees at MVEA. After Jim announced he was planning to retire, a nationwide search began to find the next CEO. I applied when the job was posted, interviewed, and was elated to be offered the job.NFH: Can you describe your leadership background and style? In terms of leadership of people, what is your primary focus?RM: I feel if you have good people working for you, you donít need to know their jobs, you need to know the right questions to ask; you have to trust the people that work for you. Itís important that I be able to listen, learn, lead and hire good people. My last job really tested my leadership ability because none of my six direct reports were located at the headquarters where I worked; they were located on the Western Slope, New Mexico, Wyoming and Nebraska, so I had to trust them. My primary focus in this role, and for the past 27 years, has been trying to limit distractions for people in the workforce by being transparent, keeping them informed about what is going on and being honest so that they are able to work safely and do the best job they can. The jobs we do are dangerous, and employees need to be focused and free of distractions.NFH: As a new CEO, what are your goals for Mountain View Electric Association?††How do you see the industry evolving in the next decade?RM: One of the questions the board asked me in my interview was, ìWhat is your 90-day-plan?î My 90-day plan is to listen, learn and talk to the members, employees, executive team and board, so I can identify the issues and challenges. I didnít come to this job with any preconceived notions on what has to be done. MVEA is a well-run company with great staff and a great board and is very respected in the industry. One thing that worked out nicely is an employee survey was conducted right before I started, so we have a lot of feedback on what employees are thinking about and what they see as opportunities for MVEA.Before this article is likely to be published, we will have a board and staff strategic planning session and hope to establish what our strategic priorities will be. We also recently wrapped up a rate study to see how our rates compare to the other utilities in Colorado, and whether there are any tweaks we need to make. As a nation, we are moving toward more renewables. We have to balance it with the baseload supply of power, and that is what electric utilities are trying to figure out. Our challenge is to meet state renewable requirements without impacting affordability and reliability.NFH: What makes co-op structure different from regular utility companies?† How does running a nonprofit business differ from a for-profit utility operation?RM: We are not owned by shareholders; rather we are owned by our members, who elect our seven directors. Our directors truly believe in representing the people who elected them Ö and bring their concerns and issues to the table. It makes for better relationships with our members and better decision making. At the end of the year, our members receive margins, or profits, allocated back to them in the form of capital credits. Because we are locally governed, the relationship with our members is a lot closer, a lot tighter, than with an investor-owned utility. We are also involved in our communities; in fact, ìcommitment to communityî is one of the seven cooperative principles. As an example, we have ìOperation Round Up,î where you can round up your electric bill to the next dollar and all that money goes to the fund to help the community. We also give $28,000 in scholarships to our membersí dependents who want to continue their education at traditional or vocational colleges or to those pursuing becoming a lineworker. We are really part of the community and the success of the community. Electric cooperatives are a great place to work. That is why 27 years later Iím still in this business, in a cooperative, because I believe in this business model.NFH: How does Falconís and Eastern Coloradoís growth impact any near plans for MVEA?RM: Currently, we serve portions of eight counties, including Arapahoe, Crowley, Douglas, Elbert, El Paso, Lincoln, Pueblo and Washington. Our service territory is 5,000 square miles. The eastern side of our service territory is more rural with farmers and ranchers; the western side of our territory is more densely populated. Overall, we serve a diverse service territory. We donít grow in terms of expanding our service area, but we are growing quickly in terms of numbers of members within the existing territory.One of the exciting developments for MVEA is the fiber-to-the-home broadband service that we are building out to provide access for all our members. Itís especially valuable for our more rural members, where fiber is not as prevalent as in the urban communities. We are starting both here in Falcon and in Limon. The first phase will not only connect our offices in Falcon and Limon but will also provide the opportunity for members in portions of Falcon, Black Forest, Colorado Springs and Limon to sign up for service. Our first members will be connected in the next few weeks. We are proud that the board of directors made the commitment to our members to provide broadband service in all our areas ó even the less populated.NFH: What do you credit for your success? †Did you have mentors to guide you in your career?†RM: Iíve had the good fortune to work for four different people in my career that were exceptional leaders, great bosses and mentors who really took me under their wing. From the Federal Reserve days to my latest position, they were not afraid to tell me when I needed to do things differently.NFH: What are your hobbies and interests outside of work?RM: I have two registered paint horses, black and white paint and solid bred paint. Iím a horse girl at heart and I love just spending time with them. I have two daughters. We are hikers and skiers and enjoy the Colorado outdoors.
