The Spotlight on Excellence Awards program recognizes exceptional work produced by electric cooperative communication and marketing professionals nationwide.  

FreeState Electric Cooperative has received national recognition in the 2024 Spotlight on Excellence Awards program, sponsored by the Council of Rural Electric Communicators (CREC) and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA).

Winners of the Spotlight on Excellence Awards represent leading practices across all communication platforms as the best in the field. This is the fourth award for the cooperative’s communication efforts led by Communications Manager Sarah Farlee.

The two awards were a Gold Award in the Best Strategic Communications Campaign for the CoBank Sharing Success program. The internal program raised $15,174 from employees and trustees, added to a $10,000 match from CoBank, and awarded $25,174 to The Race Against Breast Cancer.

A Silver Award in the Best Social Media Campaign category was given for the Cooperative Month campaign last October.  

In this year’s NRECA Spotlight Awards, FreeState competed with just under 180 other electric co-ops, representing nearly 40 out of 50 states, which made more than 800 submissions into various award categories.

Farlee was recognized at the Connect Conference in Baltimore, Md., a national conference for communications and marketing professionals in the cooperative electric industry. She also represented FreeState by speaking at the conference.

The annual Spotlight on Excellence Awards program recognizes electric cooperatives and related organizations' best communication and marketing efforts nationwide. More than 800 entries were submitted across 20 different categories, including writing, graphic design, digital communications, campaign development, and more. The esteemed judging panel includes members from the University of Missouri Columbia and noted professionals in the fields of marketing, digital communications, and print media.