Minnkota receives communications honors from NRECA

For the fifth consecutive year, Minnkota’s Communications department has been awarded top honors from the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association’s (NRECA) Spotlight on Excellence Awards. The program recognizes outstanding work produced by electric co-op communication and marketing professionals across the country. This year, Minnkota received two Gold awards and one Silver award for projects completed in 2022. All winning submissions were judged against other G&Ts and statewide organizations.

Minnkota won a first-place Gold award for Best Individual Ad for its latest in a series of All In on All-of-the-Above Energy videos, titled Your Region, Your Resources. The 30-second ad features a fast-paced rhyming concept that includes all of Minnkota’s energy resources along with the unique visual elements of North Dakota and Minnesota.

Another first-place Gold award for Best Video was given to Your Off-Peak Program, a fully animated educational video illustrating how Minnkota’s off-peak (demand response) program works and its benefits to the grid, the co-op and the membership.

Minnkota digital media specialist Michael Hoeft received a Silver award for Best Photo for his photograph, Rise Up, which captured the Minnkota teamwork involved in helping to restore power for a fellow co-op in western North Dakota. The shot was also voted as Photo of the Year by NRECA’s RE Magazine.

The Spotlight on Excellence Awards consist of several categories that reflect the scope of cooperative communications, including writing, graphic design, marketing campaigns, etc. Entries are judged by industry peers.

MAIN IMAGE, left to right: Jenna Chase, Ben Fladhammer, Emily Windjue, Michael Hoeft, Kaylee Cusack, Jenny Erickson