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Take Advantage of Heat from the Sun
Open curtains on your south-facing windows during the day to allow sunlight to naturally heat your home, and close them at night to reduce the chill you may feel from cold windows.
Bill was elected to the GCEA Board in 2004. During his time on the board he has completed the necessary courses to become a NRECA Credentialed Cooperative Director.
After graduating from the Management School of Syracuse University Bill joined IBM where he spent over 36 years holding a number of positions in sales, marketing and its legal department, both within IBM and its' Americas/Far East subsidiary. While he was with IBM, he attended graduate studies at Harvard. Upon retiring Bill worked as a consultant to IBM for several years as an advisor to IBM's Global Services.
Bill and his wife Marge became full time residents of Gunnison County in 1997 after Bill retired from corporate life. They live at Skyland where Bill has been president of the Skyland Community Association board of directors for the past 5 years. Their son Jon and his family live in Crested Butte where Jon is the owner of CB Coatings. His daughter and her family live in Denver where she works part time in graphic design and full time raising a family.
Chris has served on the Gunnison County Electric Association board of directors since 1998 and recently completed a 3 year term as the association's president. In addition, Chris serves as the Chair of the Technology Committee and the Policy-Rules, Regulations/Bylaws Committee. Chris also serves as the vice-president of the Colorado Rural Electric Association, a statewide legislative organization representing all twenty-two of Colorado's rural electric cooperatives.
Growing up in Georgia, Chris attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a double major in environmental science and geology. He then moved to Mt. Crested Butte in 1990. Chris has further served his community with 11 years of service as Mt Crested Butte planning commissioner, council member and most recently Mayor.
Chris is proud to be a founding board member of the Office for Resource Efficiency (ORE) here in the Gunnison valley. Founded in 2004, the mission of ORE is to facilitate resource savings through energy services and education programs to empower the Gunnison Valley to lower utility costs, develop renewable energy sources, decrease carbon emissions, and build a more sustainable self-sufficient economy. As the lead organization in implementing the Intergovernmental Energy Task Force joint governmental resolution passed by all four governmental entities in the valley in 2007, ORE is partnering with local governments and utilities to help implement a comprehensive valley wide energy strategy.
His wife Sara, an advertising consultant from the Washington DC area, joined Chris in Mt Crested Butte in 2003. An avid mountain climber, Chris has successfully climbed all 54 of the 14,000-ft peaks in Colorado and is currently closing in on climbing the 200 highest. He also enjoys kayaking, mountain biking, and skiing.
Helen has served on the GCEA Board since 1996, continuing a tradition that her family has devotedly maintained for over 70 years. Her predecessors were her grandmother-in-law Janet M. Allen (founding Director of GCEA from 1938 until 1974); her father-in-law Tim Allen (Director from 1974 until 1996); and her father Pete Klingsmith (Association Attorney for 24 years).
In her 13 years, Helen has served as Board President and Secretary-Treasurer. She currently serves on the Boards' Scholarship Committee; the Policy-Rules, Regulations and Bylaws Committee; and the Technology Committee. Helen also represents GCEA as delegate to the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association and National Rural Cooperative Finance Corporation. She was the first Director to complete the NRECA Credentialed Director course work and earned her Board Leadership Certificate in 2003. When making a decision for the Cooperative Helen is guided by The Seven Cooperative Principles and works diligently to understand every side of an issue.
Born and raised in Gunnison County, Helen spent most of her youth skiing on the slopes of Crested Butte and riding with many of the local ranchers. She graduated from Colorado State University with an Animal Science degree and returned to Gunnison with her husband, Curtis Allen, in 1983. Together with the Allen family they raise commercial Hereford Cattle and are the stewards of the land of a multi-generational ranching operation. Helen has promoted the beef industry as a member and past president of Gunnison Valley Cattle Women. She is also a member of P.E.O., DAR and the Church of the Good Samaritan.
George has served on the GCEA Board for the past 12 years and currently holds the position of Vice President. He also serves on the Rules, Regulations and Bylaws Committee and on the Scholarship Committee.
While on the Board, he has seen many challenges, including the building of the Alkali Substation, completed in November 2005. He has supported energy efficiency, conservation, the green power program, net metering and funding of the ORE group. He has served as the President of the Board, the Secretary/Treasurer of the Board, and the board representative to Western United Electric Supply Corp. George has completed the Director Certification as recommended by the National Rural Electric Association and is presently working on the Board Leadership certificate.
George is the third generation to have been born and raised in the Gunnison Basin. His family has been a member of GCEA at their present location since its inception. However, after graduation from Western State College, George moved to seek employment in the Denver area until 1995 when he built his home in District 4. During his tenure in Denver, he was a layout designer for Locheed Martin until they finished the Titan 2 missile program. Then George returned to Gunnison to obtain his teaching credentials. For over 30 years he was an Industrial and Vocational Education teacher with main emphasis on mechanical and architectural drafting earning a Master Degree from the University of Northern Colorado. George was the first teacher in Denver to implement the ACCD drafting program. He then provided instruction and certification to other teachers in the Metro Area.
George and his wife Joy have been married for 47 years and have two children and three grandchildren that live in the Denver area.
Paul currently serves as President of the Board and is Chairman of Paradigm Services, LLC. He is also a member of the Technology Committee. In the past, Paul has served as Vice President and Assistant Secretary/Treasurer of the Board. He has completed the Director Certification as recommended by the National Rural Electric Association and has almost completed the Board Leadership certificate.
In the six years Paul has served on the Board he has been diligent each month researching and discussing renewable energy, rates, system reliability, and safety at Management and Board level. Paul has worked with the Board to develop energy efficiency and renewable resources loan programs, and to implement a time of use rate that rewards members for staying off peak. He supported adding staff to help communicate these programs and research other possibilities of helping our members control costs. He believes we need to increase our efforts to incorporate clean renewable energy sources to our power portfolio and in our homes.
Paul has been a GCEA member since 1975 and a Hinsdale County business owner since 1985. He has a university degree in management with over 30 years experience in business management.
Paul has a proven record of commitment, preparation and effective decision making. He is dedicated to work for the best interest of Gunnison County Electric Association.
Paul and his wife Lynn have two children, Robert and Kimberly, and three grandsons, Shawn, Parker, and Dakota.
John has been a GCEA Director since 1997 and has served as President of the Board. Currently, he is GCEA's representative to Western United Electric where he serves as Vice President. John has completed the required coursed for a Credentialed Cooperative Director, as well as Board Leadership Training Courses.
John has family roots that go deep into the local history. As a fourth generation Vader in the Gunnison Valley, John knows that area and the people and wants to continue to carry on the tradition of our locally owned and controlled cooperative business. He graduated from Gunnison High School and went to mechanic school in Phoenix, Arizona before working at Chapman Equipment Company in Gunnison for seven years. John then joined the Vader Ranch partnership with his parents, Joe and Levon Vader, where he worked until the ranch was sold in 1995, and has been the groundskeeper for the Gunnison Cemetery since 1992.
John has had previous experience with governing boards as a Director of the Gunnison Stockgrowers Association and continues his membership and duties on the Scholarship Committee.
John and his wife Terry live east of Gunnison on a portion of the old Vader ranchland where they raised their four children. John still works full time for the Cemetery District and enjoys family time with the six grandkids and helping the neighbors with ranch work.
Lou has been a Gunnison County Electric Association board director since mid-1994 and currently serves on the Budget Finance and Audit Committee. As the senior member of GCEA's board, Lou also serves on the board of our power supplier, Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, Inc. and serves as vice-chairman of the Tri-State Finance Committee.
Born in Salida, Colorado, Lou's roots are deep in this area. He has spent the summer months in Gunnison since 1958 on the family property west of town which is now Blue Mesa Lake. Lou earned a bachelor degree in accounting and business and began his career as a certified public accountant with one of the "Big Eight" firms in the country at that time. He remained in public accounting for ten years, the last few as a partner in his firm. He has held the position of CFO with various companies, both public and private, including Crested Butte Mountain Resort during the 1980s. He was part-owner and operated Alpine Express during the 1990s. Then, he was responsible for real estate development and operations of the Crested Butte Country Club until 2002.
Lou and his wife Jo Dee, who taught Spanish at Gunnison High School, have lived on the Gunnison River seven miles north of town since 1976. They have three sons: Ben is a graduate of Colorado State University and the River Manager of a whitewater rafting company in Fort Collins; Joey is a graduate of Arizona State University and Golf Supervisor at a golf and tennis club in Largo, Florida; and Mikey is a sophomore at Colorado State University studying Construction Management with a focus on sustainable building and energy conservation.
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