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Hotchkiss Meats Experiences the Cooperative Difference, Receives Capital Credit Retirement

December 19th, 2015

Filed under Featured, Hotchkiss, News

 

EDB604CF-19CE-4AC6-942B-A601C465AB5FHotchkiss Meats Experiences the Cooperative Difference,

Receives Capital Credit Retirement

Although officially incorporated as a business in 1983, Hotchkiss Meats has been processing local livestock and game in the North Fork Valley for more than 50 years. The family-owned business has been passed down through the generations and is now owned and operated by Terry and Pam Neville.

Terry began working for Hotchkiss Meats more than 25 years earlier under the tutelage of his father-in-law, Orville DeMoulin, and eventually took over the business in 2007. His claim to fame; sausage. Hotchkiss Meats offers more than 30 different varieties of sausage. Topping the list of favorites is the German jalapeno Swiss, which recently nabbed top honors at the Colorado-Wyoming Hands Across the Rockies cured meat competition.

Delta-Montrose Electric Association (DMEA) proudly presented Hotchkiss Meats with their $1037.09 capital credit retirement check last week. Hotchkiss Meats is one of more than 10,000 DMEA members set to receive a capital credit retirement this month. The DMEA board approved the $2.6 million capital credit retirement during their October meeting.

“These days, many people don’t immediately understand the benefits of being served by a cooperative business. That’s what makes capital credits so important. They represent our members’ ownership in the cooperative. It was an honor to present Hotchkiss Meats with their retirement check and learn about their business. It makes me proud of the work DMEA does and the services we provide,” said Olen Lund, a DMEA board representative from the North Fork Valley.

DMEA is issuing capital credit retirements from 1990 and a portion from 1994. Active members during these years can expect to see their capital credit check later this month. Retirements $10 or greater will be mailed as checks. Retirements less than $10 will be issued as bill credits. DMEA is issuing checks in order to help members understand the real benefits of cooperative membership, a concept that is often overlooked in today’s fast-paced world.

“I never thought anything likes this would happen. Usually money goes out, but doesn’t come back in. [. . .] DMEA just isn’t out to get people,” said Neville when asked about what capital credits mean to him and his business.

A capital credit check is a tangible example of what makes cooperatives different. As a not-for-profit member-owned cooperative, DMEA doesn’t work to earn profits for shareholders. The cooperative works for the people it serves – its members. Individuals and businesses that purchase electricity from the cooperative are considered members and owners. This also means that any profits DMEA earns are returned to the member-owners as capital credit retirements. DMEA typically returns margins on an approximate 25-year schedule.

For more information on this year’s capital credit retirement, your capital credit checks, or other questions concerning your investment in DMEA, contact the co-op at 1-877-687-3632 ext. 391 or capital.credits@dmea.com.

DMEA is a rural electric distribution cooperative, located in Montrose, Colorado.  DMEA was originally founded in 1938, as Delta-Montrose Rural Power Lines Association. The cooperative is governed by a board of directors, from nine districts covering three counties.  DMEA serves approximately 32,000 residential, commercial and industrial meters, on over 3,000 miles of cooperative owned distribution line.

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