The Power of Connections

procedures to minimize health risks for themselves and others. “We made numerous adjustments to programs and operations to maintain business continuity while staying focused on the bigger mission of helping our members during this turbulent time,” says Tracy. This included temporarily suspending account disconnections because of non-payment. CREC leveraged its technology infrastructure and resources to maintain communication with members and field employees as well as to facilitate a seamless transition to work from home for office personnel. “Our IT department did a tremendous job of ensuring that all of our office employees could work from their homes and access the tools and software they needed to do their jobs,” says Tracy. “We’ve got people who have lightning-fast internet and others who don’t have access to the same level of technology infrastructure. But we were able to connect everyone as if they were sitting together in the office.” Tracy credits CREC employees for their tireless commitment to upholding the co-op’s mission. “Through it all, our employees did an outstanding job keeping the lights on, processing requests for services, answering billing questions, and continuing to serve our membership in the quality manner they’ve come to expect,” he reports.

Because the new headquarters was still under construction when the pandemic started, CREC had to be prepared for when members could return to visit the RI²FH 7KLV LQFOXGHG ³RRU VWLFNHUV WR HQFRXUDJH VRFLDO GLVWDQFLQJ DQG KDQJLQJ D plastic curtain at the reception area to protect members and employees.

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