NCC’s ANNUAL MEETING RECAP

The 2025 NCC Annual Meeting was held at NCC in Ray on Tuesday, June 17, 2024.

Nearly 400 people joined NCC for an evening of food, entertainment, prizes and business meeting. Prior to the business meeting, Chloe Marie Duo entertained the crowd. About 41 children enjoyed the kids’ activities, including inflatables and the Virtual Reality Goggles. Customers were encouraged to visit the demonstration booths including a Virtual Reality Experience, myNCC Connect App demo, NCC Video demo, SmartHub sign up, and the touch a truck demo of a mini excavator. Tioga School Robotics team had their robots available for attendees to use.

President Lorena Lambrecht called the business meeting to order at 6:00PM. Jen Bingeman, CFO reported on the co-op’s audited financial state at the end of 2024. NCC maintained a strong financial position generating a net margin of $4.66 million, with revenues of over $24 million and assets reaching $80 million. President Lambrecht requested a motion for a unanimous ballot to be cast for Leslie Grubb, District #5 representing Powers Lake and Columbus and Lorena Lambrecht, District #6 representing Tioga. Both directors were re-elected to a three-year term by the 189 voting members in attendance. General Manager/CEO, Jeremy Becker’s report shared that 2024 was a year of growth. He stated, ‘To stay competitive and meet the needs of our customers NCC remains focused on network improvements, adopting new technologies, anticipating future trends and ensuring our team is equipped with tools and skills needed to implement and manage innovations.’ One of the major commitments in 2024 was to increase data capacity from 40 Gig to 400 Gig at a price tag of $3 million, which will be completed by end of year 2025. The cooperative signed a purchase agreement to acquire all of Nemont’s North Dakota wireline assets, resulting in a nearly 70% increase in customer accounts. They are working on a multi-year fiber build out plan for Williston. Becker also announced that the NCC board of directors approved a $1.2 million general capital credit retirement to be done this Fall. You can view the annual meeting booklet on their website by going to www.nccray.com/annualmeeting.