CEO’s Message – May 2025

April Showers Bring the 2025 Annual Meeting!

It was a chilly 35 degrees on a mid-April morning when I put these thoughts together…just a couple weeks ago. By the afternoon, it was a lovely, sunny 70-degree Spring day. This isn’t unusual. April weather is predictably unpredictable around here, but then we are rewarded with May, when the weather seems to settle down and warm up. At least that is the hope.

If I sound less than certain, maybe it is because these days, uncertainty seems to be lurking around every corner, hiding in the shadows, knocking us all off of our game just a bit, not only with the world around us, but here at Columbia REA as well. Our industry is undergoing a time of change, some of it very exciting, some of it still to be determined.

Well, we have decided to buck the trend, at least for 1 night. That is why our theme for the 2025 Columbia REA Annual Meeting this year is, “April Showers Bring May Flowers!” because we could all use a little predictability these days. The Annual Meeting is Thursday, May 15, here at our Warehouse in Walla Walla, so be sure to get signed up if you haven’t already! See page 5 of this issue for instructions on how to register.

As you’ve come to expect from the Columbia REA Annual Meeting, there will be food! Marty Bray and A Chef’s Creation will be back with us to make sure nobody goes home hungry. And if you’re lucky, you could go home with a nice door prize as well. We will also be offering bucket truck rides in the parking lot again.

Another thing you can count on at your Annual Meeting is that we will recognize some stellar achievements by our local students. We will present the 2025 Clark Brewington Academic Scholarship winners, as well as the 2025 recipient of the Jeff Meredith Line Worker Scholarship.

We will also announce the winners of our Board election. If you haven’t voted yet, there is still time. You should have received a ballot in the mail, which provides instructions for voting electronically or by mail.

The Annual Meeting is our biggest gathering of the year, and it is for you, the members. I hope you can be there on May 15. It’s your chance to participate in your co-op, and it’s our chance to show you our appreciation for helping Columbia REA remain strong, successful, and such an integral part of the communities we serve. that you can count on.

Like flowers in May.

Best,
Scott Peters, CEO