When Toby Moss became CEO of Farmers Rural Electric Cooperative in early 2023, he was new to the community and wanted a way to connect with members in the co-op's south-central Kentucky service territory.

Moss came to the Glasgow-based distribution co-op from Florida, where he'd served for over six years as chief information officer of Clay Electric Cooperative Inc.

While attending NRECA's Management Internship Program, Moss recalled Gary Pfann, the association's director of executive and staff education, “discussing ways to engage with the community."

“One idea we talked about was going to coffee shops and meeting with the members," Moss said. “And I thought, maybe a better way to do this, at least in in our circumstance, is to try to make this more of a publicized event."

The result was “Coffee with the Co-op," a quarterly meeting between Farmers RECC leaders and members that rotates to different coffee shops in the co-op's service area. The gatherings—seven in total so far—encourage members to ask questions and give feedback on co-op services. The meetings typically draw about 20 to 50 members, along with co-op employees.

The free event recently expanded to become “Coffee with the Co-ops"—plural —with Farmers RECC partnering with South Central Rural Telecommunications Cooperative for a March 25 meeting at The Hive Coffee and Bakehouse in Glasgow.

“It's another avenue to engage with our members, and I think that should be the priority," Moss said. “Through our actions, our members see what we're about, and I think that lends itself to better satisfaction."

For two years in a row, Farmers RECC, which serves more than 27,000 meters, has achieved the highest American Customer Satisfaction Index score in its history. It earned those distinctions despite two record-breaking storms and the co-op's first rate increase in seven years in 2023.

“I feel like part of that [success] is attributed to our engagement, because we're talking to our members, and we're showing them [that] through our actions, we are all the things that a cooperative is supposed to be," Moss said. “We're part of the community. We care about the community."

At the coffees, members are largely interested in electric generation and reliability, according to Moss. In December 2022, Winter Storm Elliott slammed into the eastern half of the U.S., causing rolling blackouts in areas of Kentucky.

Although Farmers RECC customers didn't experience blackouts, “our members are sensitive to that," Moss said. “Generation is paramount, at least with what they talk to me about."

The coffees also provide a chance to explain Farmers RECC's model as a distributor rather than producer of power and to address public pressure to take a position for or against certain types of energy.

“My response is, our mission is to provide safe, reliable, affordable electricity," Moss said.

At the March 25 meeting, people asked about a local utility-scale solar energy project and lamented U.S. Postal Service performance issues that affect delivery of co-op mail. The co-op explained that it's not affiliated with the solar project and encouraged members to sign up for electronic billing.

“The gatherings can help shape the co-op's communications strategy," said Caralyne Pennington, director of member and public communications for Farmers RECC.

“If we're hearing these topics from members in person, we would imagine that those are issues that members that maybe aren't speaking up also have," she said. “So, it helps us inform that strategy."

The next coffee will take place in May, when Farmers RECC will once again join with South Central Rural Telecommunications Cooperative. The partnership between the two co-ops will continue through 2025, said Nicole Randall, who handles marketing and sales for SCRTC.

“Anytime we can get out into our service areas and communicate with our members, it's a great thing," Randall said. “We are available to our members inside our offices, but when we go out to them, it is an extra step that we hope is an expression of their importance to our cooperative."