Ponder joins Atchison, Haines as association officers
A new team will lead Missouri’s electric cooperatives into the future following the election of officers at the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives Annual Meeting held in October 2021.
Darrell Atchison, a director for Ozark Border Electric Cooperative, Poplar Bluff, is the association’s new president. A financial adviser who has lived on the same gravel road near Williamsville since he was 12, Darrell has been a member of his electric cooperative’s board since 2009. He’s served as its president since 2015.
His focus on community service continued in 2020 when he was elected to represent District 153 — which includes Carter, Ripley and parts of Wayne and Butler counties — as state representative. He also served in the Missouri National Guard, retiring with the rank of major.
Darrell volunteers in a number of community organizations, including the Lions Club, Black River Volunteer Fire Department Board and Greenville School Foundation.
He replaces Carmen Hartwell, manager of Gascosage Electric Cooperative, Dixon, who served as AMEC president from 2019-2021.
Joining Darrell as officers for the association are Vice President Loren Haines, manager of North Central Missouri Electric Cooperative, Milan and Kim Ponder, who is a director for Boone Electric Cooperative, Columbia.
Loren has been manager of North Central Missouri Electric since 2016. He joined the cooperative’s staff in 1999, when he began his cooperative career as a member services representative. He then served as staff assistant from 2006-2013 and was the cooperative’s assistant manager from 2013 until being named manager.
He served on the Load Management Committee for the association, helping to hold down rates by reducing peak demand for the state’s electric cooperatives. He also serves on the board of directors for N.W. Electric Power Cooperative, Cameron.
Kim is a lifelong resident of Boone County. A graduate of Southern Boone High School, she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia College. She is the executive vice president and central Missouri retail leader for First State Community Bank. Kim was elected to Boone Electric’s board of directors in July 2013 and currently holds the office of treasurer, a position she has held since 2017. She is a graduate of the Rural Electric Director Program, earning Credential Cooperative Director, Board Leadership and Director Gold certificates.
Kim serves as past-president of the Southern Boone Economic Development Council, Southern Boone PTA and Southern Boone County Chamber of Commerce. She was a founding board member of the Southern Boone YMCA and former member of the NRECA Directors Advisory Group.