Two recurring themes in Wolverine's success over the past 25 years are long-term thinking and agility. Of course knowing where we are today is important, as are the many Wolverine employees who remain focused in the moment. It’s essential for day-to-day execution and safety. But leadership also requires thinking months and years in advance to [...]
Have you ever faced an argument so absurd that you first wonder if it was intended as a joke, and then you struggle to frame words that seem self-evident? “The world is flat, the sky is green, gravity doesn’t exist.” Seriously? Where do you start? This summer, Wolverine found itself in the middle of the [...]
Michigan cooperatives met in Grand Rapids last week for our Annual Symposium. Attendees were challenged by several headline speakers who offered interesting viewpoints on the changing economy and workforce, upcoming political races, new trends in power markets and the role of distributed resources, and supply chain challenges. Common themes of dramatic change and uncertainty permeated [...]
Wolverine achieved an important milestone last week in our continuing development of renewable energy. After a lengthy negotiation, Wolverine and Clenera, a proven developer of solar and storage projects, reached an agreement to proceed with a large-scale solar project. Clenera will construct the 150 MW Gemstone Solar Array on 1,000 acres near Cassopolis, Michigan, and Wolverine will purchase all energy and [...]
This old proverb attributed to Alexander Pope says that people will keep on hoping no matter the odds. One year ago today, I made the tough choice to send you home to quarantine against a virus we knew nothing about. That time was surreal – we knew why we were taking extreme safety measures, but [...]
(Pictured above: Inside the United States' Capitol Rotunda) Chris Ball, Michelle Clements, and I, recently accompanied Craig Borr on a three-day trip to Washington D.C. to learn more about hot-button issues facing co-ops, and to advocate on our members’ behalf. Click here to read about our first day as we engaged with ACRE and NRECA on [...]
Pictured above: Chris Ball, Wolverine director of IT; James Curtis, Wolverine director of communications; U.S. Congressman John Moolenaar; Michelle Clements, Wolverine director of accounting While the city of Washington D.C. buzzed with the clamor of Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game and the din of the daily political news last week, a group of Wolverine Power Cooperative [...]
I enjoyed watching my daughter graduate from the University of Michigan two weeks ago. Thousands of graduates on the stadium floor of the Big House makes quite a spectacle! I know several of you have high school graduations approaching in a few weeks, and you will watch your family members prepare to head off to [...]
Your Culture Survey responses last summer said that you really like many things about Wolverine’s culture – especially our mission for our members and our willingness to help each other. You also highlighted three things you wanted Wolverine to improve upon. You asked for better communication, improved processes to make your day-to-day job more efficient, [...]
In my last blog, I explained the origin of Grandpa’s instruction, “Do something, even if it’s wrong!” He detested inaction and encouraged me to learn from doing, as much as he valued learning by thinking. I naturally thought of him as I reflected on our new Senior Team structure we implemented in the fall of [...]