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1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | ||||||
3 | Representatives are pleased to congratulate the members of Corn | ||||||
4 | Belt Energy Corporation on the 75th anniversary of their | ||||||
5 | cooperative; and | ||||||
6 | WHEREAS, Corn Belt Energy Corporation was officially | ||||||
7 | organized as Corn Belt Electric Cooperative on September 22, | ||||||
8 | 1938 in Bloomington, Illinois, through the hard work and | ||||||
9 | dedication of a handful of local residents wanting to improve | ||||||
10 | living and farming conditions for themselves and their | ||||||
11 | neighbors; and
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12 | WHEREAS, Because of the lack of density, it simply wasn't | ||||||
13 | possible for the for-profit utilities to make a profit serving | ||||||
14 | rural areas with only a few farms or homes per mile of electric | ||||||
15 | line; with the help of loans from the Rural Electrification | ||||||
16 | Administration (REA), the people living in these rural areas | ||||||
17 | banded together to form member-owned and member-governed | ||||||
18 | electric cooperatives; and
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19 | WHEREAS, This group of local residents went door to door | ||||||
20 | signing up their neighbors to become members of Corn Belt | ||||||
21 | Energy Corporation and convincing them that a cooperative would | ||||||
22 | bring lights and power to the rural area; and
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1 | WHEREAS, Their hard work paid off and Corn Belt Energy | ||||||
2 | Corporation's lines were first energized on August 3, 1939, | ||||||
3 | initially serving 200 member-owners in Woodford and McLean | ||||||
4 | counties; and
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5 | WHEREAS, In 1999, Corn Belt Electric Cooperative merged | ||||||
6 | with Illinois Valley Electric Cooperative, creating the Corn | ||||||
7 | Belt Energy Corporation, which continues to provides reliable | ||||||
8 | electric service to member-owners in 18 counties; and
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9 | WHEREAS, For 75 years, the cooperative has served its | ||||||
10 | member-owners based on 7 guiding principles: voluntary and open | ||||||
11 | membership, member-elected and controlled boards of directors, | ||||||
12 | members' economic participation, autonomy and independence, | ||||||
13 | education and training, cooperation among cooperatives, and | ||||||
14 | concern for community; therefore, be it
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15 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
16 | NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
17 | we congratulate the members of the Corn Belt Energy Corporation | ||||||
18 | on the 75th anniversary of their cooperative; and be it further
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19 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
20 | presented to Corn Belt Energy Corporation as a symbol of our | ||||||
21 | esteem and respect.
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