After a five-month search, 4-County Electric Power Association named Joe B. Cade its new CEO and general manager today.
Cade, a Noxapater native, will assume his duties Oct. 1. He replaces Allegra Brigham, who retired from the cooperative to become interim president of Mississippi University for Women.
He was chosen for his experience and his background at 4-County, said Board of Directors President Jay Gilliland.
The Mississippi State University alum began his 27-year career at 4-County, where he became assistant general manager, Gilliland said.
From there, he went on to become general manager of Coosa Valley Electric Cooperative in Talladega, Ala., in 1990.
Cade, who was at CVEC eight years, is credited with taking a struggling cooperative and making it one of the most progressive in the nation.
In 1997, Cade became President and CEO of the Flint Electric Membership Corporation in Reynolds, Ga., which served about 72,000 households in 17 counties.
During Cade”s tenure, Flint acquired the distribution system of Fort Benning, making it the first electric membership corporation in the nation to acquire the system of a military base.
Cade also was a co-founder of Green Power Electric Membership Corporation, which gave renewable energy options to Georgia electric cooperatives, and of Touchstone Energy, a nationwide alliance of more than 700 cooperatives in 46 states.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 32 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.