Retiree honored at his 50th SWCA annual meeting
General manager Syd Briggs, right, presents Finance Division Manager Dave Lundberg with a framed photo of Steele-Waseca Cooperative Electric staff in honor of Lundberg’s June 30 retirement. The June 7 annual meeting was the 50th Lundberg attended since joining SWCE in 1973. Staff photo by Joni Hubred
Dave Lundberg attended his first Steele-Waseca Cooperative Electric (SWCE) annual meeting in 1973, not even a week after he took a job with the organization.
He used his training and experience in finance to help guide SWCE over the next 50 years. On June 30, Lundberg will retire, and on June 7, he attended his 50th annual meeting.
What stands out in his memory most, he said, are the many storms SWCE has worked through over the years. The worst, a two-day blizzard, happened around Halloween in 1991.
“We replaced 5,000 poles,” Lundberg said, and repairs took three years and $3 million in assistance from FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency). “Other cooperatives helped us restore and rebuild, and now we can withstand storms easier.”
Lundberg recalled moving from offices in downtown Owatonna to the current SWCE headquarters on Bridge Street. The need for a more central location came to light during the 1991 storm, he said.
Lundberg counts the REA (Rural Electrification Administration) loan program, which provides low-interest loans to help cooperatives keep rates low, and the scholarships SWCE awards to help students further their education, among his best experiences.
The cooperative business model–returning funds collected over costs to members–is “a good, clean form of business,” he said.
During the cooperative’s June 7 annual meeting, general manager Syd Briggs presented Lundberg with a framed photograph of the SWCE crew.
“It’s been a good place to work,” Lundberg said. “Thank you for the experience of a lifetime.”