A Service State Of Mind Meet Janet Andersen, GLE’s newest board member
M
ost days, Janet Andersen hits the ground running at 3:30 a.m. That might sound crazy to some people, but for Janet, who was raised on the Mason County dairy farm that has been in her family since 1878, getting an early start on a busy day is just how things are done.
“Everything the cooperative does, and everything they stand for, is about community and the members,” Janet said. “The whole cooperative model appeals to me. The board is made up of members making decisions for the members, and we all have a stake in those decisions.”
“Everything the cooperative does, and everything they stand for, is about community and the members.”
Janet, a lifelong Ludington area resident, was recently elected to the District 6 seat on the Great Lakes Energy Board of Directors, replacing Bob Kran, who retired from the board. She was unopposed in the election. Janet was honored when Bob called her earlier this year to encourage her to run for the board seat he would be vacating. It was an honor for many reasons, she said, but especially because of the important role the cooperative has played in her family’s history. In fact, Janet recalls her father reminiscing about being kept home from school on the day crews brought electric service to the family farm. Janet fondly remembers going to the cooperative’s annual meeting at a local high school. Coincidentally, she recently found an envelope with $3 still sealed inside that she was given for helping in a door prize drawing at an annual meeting when she was a child. She said serving on the board also appealed to her because the cooperative’s culture mirrors many of her own values.
8 OCTOBER 2022
And although Janet might be new to the GLE board, serving on boards and attending related meetings are far from new to her.
She has served on the Mason County Board of Commissioners for the past 10 years and, in 2019, was named that board’s first-ever female chairperson. She’ll be running unopposed for re-election to her seat later this year. Through her service on the county board, she also serves on numerous county-level committees. She’s also a county planning commission member and serves the community in several other capacities. But service to the community is in Janet’s blood. Her father served on the county board of commissioners for 20 years and his township board for another 20. And if all those meetings and community activities don’t keep her busy enough, Janet has been employed as the manager of Orchard Market near Ludington for the past 44 seasons. After just a short time on the board, Janet said she’d been impressed with the organization and is excited to help lead GLE in the years ahead. She’s particularly excited about Truestream and the difference its fiber internet service makes in members’ lives.