I’m still relatively new as the editor of this publication, although I’ve been here a little more than a year now. Despite the fact I’ve lived most of my life in Jackson County, I’m sorry to say that before accepting the position as editor of JEMCO News, I’d hardly read it.

To learn what JEMCO News readers want to know about, initially, I asked my family and friends. Then, I cast a wider net. I found myself asking everyone I met if they received the newsletter and what they were interested in learning about. The piece about electric animals in the August issue was an idea from a 4th grader I met at career day.

In 2015, we conducted a big research project so we could gather even more input from people I hadn’t yet run into at the grocery store or soccer fi eld. Who is surprised that the recipe is everyone’s favorite feature? I want you to know, every recipe featured in the newsletter has been cooked by me and served to my family. If I can’t cook it, and my kids won’t eat it, it doesn’t make it to print.

You also want energy tips that save you money and are easy to do. And, you like to hear about the organizations receiving grants through your donations to Operation Round Up. You also really like the people who work at Jackson EMC. (We like you too.)

It turns out; everyone likes this newsletter. Eighty three percent of members give this newsletter a very high rating. That’s awesome!

Many of you want a digital option, but you like the print version as well, so we are giving you the option to have one or the other or both.

I am incredibly thankful to the groups of people who stayed on the phone, logged into and sat in focus groups to give us the feedback we needed to make the best newsletter for all of our members. Thank you.

We spent a year asking you what you wanted to see in JEMCO News, and now here it is. Keep telling me what you like and don't like, [email protected]