Dakota Valley Electric Cooperative board member Connie Bitz of LaMoure recently earned her fourth Director Gold certification from the National Rural Electric Cooperation Association.
Bitz has served on Dakota Valley Electric Cooperative’s board of directors since 2008 and is the cooperative's board secretary. In 2012, she was elected to the North Dakota Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives executive board and to the NDAREC Foundation’s executive board in 2022.
Bitz is one of about 1,600 electric cooperative directors (out of approximately 7,500 directors nationwide) to have achieved NRECA’s Director Gold certification and is among only a few directors who have earned the honor multiple times.
To earn Director Gold status, a director must complete NRECA’s three-step Cooperative Director Education Program designed to teach essential skills and knowledge through a series of
educational courses.
The first step is the Credentialed Cooperative Director certificate which helps directors fulfill their fiduciary duty as elected officials on behalf of the membership, by completing classes on basic governance and other industry issues.
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After that program is completed, directors may then continue to the NRECA Board Leadership certificate.
Directors who have achieved the Credentialed Cooperative Director and Board Leadership certificates, plus an additional three leadership courses are eligible to earn Director Gold certification. To maintain Director Gold status, directors must earn three credits from NRECA-approved education courses within a two-year period.
NRECA represents the nation’s more than 900 consumer-owned electric cooperatives, which provide electric service to more than 42 million people in 47 states.
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