VEC Announces New President/CEO

Volunteer Energy Cooperative announced today the addition of new President/CEO, Mr. Dion Cooper. The announcement comes about eight months after the retirement of former President/CEO, Rody Blevins. During those eight months, former Vice President of Marketing, Patty Hurley, has served as Interim President/CEO.

“I am excited to welcome Dion back to VEC,” said Hurley. “He can step right in and move the cooperative forward.”

Cooper is employed at Southwest Arkansas Electric Cooperative in Texarkana, Arkansas, where he serves as President/CEO (2021-Present) and has served as Vice President of IT and Communications and Cooperative Services (2018-2021) and Director of IT and Communications (2017).

In addition, Mr. Cooper is a member of many boards and organizations. He is chairman of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association’s Analytics, Resiliency and Reliability Member Advisory Group; a member of the NRECA Strategic Technology Advisory Council; and is a board director of the Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corporation, to name a few.

Cooper holds a Master of Business Administration degree, a Bachelor of Science degree in Information Technology, an Associate of Applied Sciences Degree-Mechanical Engineering and an Associate of Applied Sciences degree-CAD/CAM Technology.

With Cooper’s experience, this will not be his first time holding a leadership role, nor will it be his first time at VEC. From 2006-2017, he worked as a Systems Administrator in VEC’s IT department.

“Dion was always an exceptional employee and dedicated to our members and employees,” said his former boss and current IT Vice President, Karen Davis. “I am excited to have him back at VEC. It feels like a homecoming. He has all the qualities to succeed in his new position.”

Patty Hurley will continue to fulfill her duties as Interim President/CEO until Cooper steps into the role in early December 2022.