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When FreeState consolidated in 2017, one of the first questions was, “what are you going to do with two buildings?” The answer — to continue operating as we had prior to consolidation, which we’ve done for the past eight years.
Looking forward, however we need to make some adjustments.
Safety and service are priorities at your cooperative. We start each day with the thought that everyone is going home the same way they came in. And we’re going to make sure our members get the first-class service they deserve. Because that’s what we do.
Trustees and leadership at the cooperative have been mulling this question over for the past five years, and now it’s time to act.
A year ago, trustees and leaders sat down and jotted down goals for our future at FreeState. One of those goals involved our facilities and how they were serving both employees and members. When we tackled this goal there were three key considerations for making decisions.
- Least impactful to members by ensuring minimal disruption to service, maintaining accessibility to payment options and communicating clearly about any operational changes.
- Most economical for members by ensuring financial stewardship, leveraging cash flow and utilizing a construction work plan.
- Least disruptive and most beneficial for staff and members while enhancing efficiency, satisfaction and safety.
Trustees and leadership were faced with a big decision. How do we build a cooperative for 30 years from now? We engaged a third-party to help us sort through information and scenarios to achieve our goals. It took several months of consideration to arrive at the decision to make the Topeka office the cooperative headquarters and the McLouth office our operations center, which would no longer be open to the public.
Our feature story goes into more detail about how we arrived at this decision and how it will impact our members.
We understand that this change will bring a mix of emotions, and that is something we are all dealing with, but at the end of the day we have to do what is best for the cooperative and the future of powering our members.
We hope that you will understand the needs we have on an operational level and how modifying what we currently have (rather than building new) is the best way forward for our employees, members and the financial health of the cooperative.
This content was featured in the October 2025 centerspread of Kansas Country Living Magazine.