Randy Hauck

From Richardton to Velva – Originally from Richardton, Randy Hauck has called Velva home for 39 years. Verendrye Electric Cooperative (VEC) hired him as member services assistant upon graduating from North Dakota State University in 1984 with a degree in agriculture mechanization.

The fifth manager – Randy moved up in the cooperative to member services manager in 1988, then assistant general manager in 2009. In 2016, he was named the fifth manager in VEC’s 77-year history. “We are here to serve the Verendrye members and our mission is to continue to provide the membership with the best possible service excellence through your hired hands, our employees, who are the No. 1 asset of the cooperative,” he said when he took the job.

Changing member engagement – In the 1980s and 1990s, cooperatives enjoyed strong member engagement on all cooperative issues, Randy says. Getting members engaged in today’s world, with more competition for people’s attention, is a challenge for cooperatives.

The cooperative business model – “We need to keep telling the story about how the cooperative business model is the best model for the member or the customer of the utility,” Randy says. “When you return margins or profits back to your members instead of to Wall Street, when you have a locally elected, member-based board of directors running a utility instead of a stockholder-elected board of directors, it’s easy to see that is much better for the members.”

Working with the military – In 2012, VEC took over as the electric utility servicing the distribution system of the Minot Air Force Base (AFB). VEC now serves the base and its nearly 12,000 personnel, in addition to the 13,000 members it serves in seven counties. Randy calls the partnership a win-win. Significant capital credits are returned to the Minot AFB annually, offsetting some of the base’s electricity cost and allowing for operational and reliability improvements, and the military contract enabled the cooperative to grow, add staff and update equipment and technology. Working with the men and women at the base has been one of the best parts of the job for Randy. “It makes you extremely proud of how dedicated, thorough and respectful these young men and women are as they continue to protect the freedom we all enjoy each and every day,” he says.

North Dakota favorites – The wide-open spaces and friendly people are what Randy loves most about the state.
His wish for 2024 – All employees work safely and go home each evening in the same condition they came to work.
Plans for retirement – Randy and his wife, Theresa, will split time between their Velva home base and Minnesota lake place, travel in the cold months and enjoy their children, Danielle (Jared) Woinarowicz and Trevor (Sarah Mertz), and granddaughters, Vivian and Cecilia. Oh, and “relax more,” too!

His parting advice – “Continue to follow the seven cooperative principles in your day-to-day business,” Randy says.

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Verendrye Electric Cooperative members can read more about Randy in the cooperative’s January 2024 local pages.