Jackson EMC recently received recognition in the national 2020 Spotlight on Excellence Awards program, sponsored by the Council of Rural Electric Communicators (CREC) and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA).

Jackson EMC received a silver award in the best external news publication category for JEMCO News, the cooperative’s monthly newsletter to members, and a gold award in the most innovative use of digital communication category for a member testimonial video called “Decades of Service.” Kerri Testement, manager of member communication for Jackson EMC, produced the award-winning entries in coordination with the cooperative’s PR department.

“Printed news publications, social media and videos are all more important than ever to keep members updated on issues affecting the electric cooperatives and their members,” said Scott Peterson, senior vice president communications for NRECA. 

The judges in the national awards program wrote that JEMCO News “is a beautiful publication featuring outstanding photography that really helps draw the reader in to enjoy the great, well-written content.” For the winning member testimonial video, the judges wrote: “The video used great technical skills to artfully tell a story full of emotion.”

The annual Spotlight on Excellence Awards program recognizes the best communication and marketing efforts by electric cooperatives and related organizations. Entrants competed with electric cooperatives of similar size in 16 categories. Electric cooperative communicators and marketing professionals submitted nearly 670 entries in the Spotlight on Excellence Awards program.

Faculty members from the University of Missouri – Columbia and University of South Carolina, as well as noted professionals in the fields of marketing, web design and digital communications, and newspapers judged the event, which uses a finite scoring system to determine the winners.

The CREC was organized in 1982, and seeks to advance the recognition, education and professionalism of electric cooperative communicators and their affiliated organizations. This volunteer association works on behalf of more than 4,000 electric cooperative communicators across the United States. 

NRECA is a national trade association representing more than 900 local electric cooperatives. From growing suburbs to remote farming communities, electric co-ops serve as engines of economic development for 42 million Americans across 56 percent of the nation’s landscape.