BLOOMFIELD, Ind. (Oct. 28, 2024) — Shakamak High School hosted a special student assembly featuring Rwandan genocide survivor Kizito Kalima on Oct. 7 in Jasonville. The event was made possible with the help of an $800 grant from the UDWI REMC Community Fund, Inc. program. 

Shakamak High School’s mission is to provide students with varied learning experiences while emphasizing academic, social, cultural, and physical growth that empowers and challenges all students to become educated, ethical, responsible citizens in a diverse ever-changing world. As part of their promise to fulfill this mission to students, Shakamak High School administration often seeks ways to expose their students to new, inspirational experiences.

“Although I wanted my students to hear Kizito Kalima’s story, it would not have been possible to bring all of my 7th through 12th graders to him in Indianapolis. With the UDWI REMC Community Fund grant, it became possible to bring Kizito Kalima to us, exposing five times the amount of students to his inspirational story than we could have if we had bussed students up to him,” comments Alexis Meyer, a teacher at Shakamak High School. She goes on to share how impactful this event was, saying, “As a Rwandan Genocide Survivor, Kizito Kalima has endured so much trauma, yet his story now offers a huge slice of hope, compassion, and inspiration. For students, our hope is that this event might inspire them, whether now or later, depending on what they have going on in their lives.” 

At the event, Kizito Kalima described how he lost family and friends and narrowly escaped death multiple times throughout the hardships of the Rwandan Genocide against the Tutsi — a 100-day massacre in 1994 in which around 800,000 people were slaughtered in Rwanda. After surviving the event and being displaced from his home, Kizito came to United States in 1998 with his three daughters, two of whom are also genocide survivors that he adopted in the U.S. 

In response to hearing Kizito Kalima’s testimony and in an effort to give back to their own community, Shakamak High School students are spearheading a dual-mission fundraiser to donate essential household items to those in need. Donations will go towards both people in the local community as well as Kizito’s charitable organization, which aims to give assistance to a new influx of sub-Saharan refugees in the U.S.

“When we saw why Shakamak High School applied for a grant, we knew that the opportunity to bring a Rwandan Genocide survivor to speak to their students would be an unforgettable and educational experience that could not be passed up,” explains Doug Childs, CEO of UDWI REMC. He continues, “With the help of our members’ charitable donations to the UDWI REMC Community Fund, we hope to continue having a positive impact on local organizations and residents.” 

The UDWI REMC Community Fund allows cooperative members to give back to their communities by rounding up to the nearest whole dollar on their electric bills. The money accumulated is poured right back into local communities by awarding grants to various organizations. Throughout September, the Fund awarded $10,746 to eight local organizations including Shakamak High School. 

The latest round of UDWI REMC Community Fund grant recipients included: Bedford Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Bloomfield-Eastern Greene County Public Library, Bloomfield School District Police Department, Child Evangelism Fellowship of South-Central Indiana, Greene County Sheriff’s Department, Shakamak High School, Stone City Alliance for Recovery and Hope, Inc., and Worthington Lions Club. The UDWI REMC Community Fund, Inc. is now accepting applications for its next grant cycle. All nonprofit businesses in UDWI REMC’s service area are encouraged to apply. Please visit www.udwiremc.com to learn more about the program and to start an application.

BLOOMFIELD, Ind. (October 08, 2024) — The Utilities District of Western Indiana REMC and Mainstream Fiber Networks will begin building the infrastructure needed to serve the cooperative’s members with high-speed fiber-optic connectivity starting this month.

Mainstream and its construction and design contractors, Tango Fiber and Helix Engineering, will be in the area during the coming weeks to begin installation of an initial “loop” through Greene County, which will serve as the backbone for a fiber ring that will eventually allow members access to the new service. UDWI will provide advice and assist Mainstream in routes and strategic locations for the project.

Phase One construction will continue through 2025 and will put in place the framework to connect up to 4,000 meters in the county. During this phase, Mainstream expects to begin connecting members, and as the project progresses, members will receive more information as fiber becomes available in their specific area.

“Access to reliable internet is a fundamental necessity for today’s digital economy,” said Mainstream CEO Bryan Gabriel. “By continuing our focus on rural communities, we are not only creating new opportunities for economic growth and innovation but also fostering equality of opportunity for all Hoosiers. This collaboration with UDWI embodies our commitment to bridging the digital divide between densely populated areas and the numerous rural communities.”

Installing fiber in rural areas is challenging and costly, and this project allows UDWI and Mainstream to work together to bring multi-gigabit fiber broadband more quickly and efficiently. By partnering, each company can leverage its assets, making it possible to increase connectivity in hard-to-serve areas in the region. There is no cost to UDWI members for this project. If members decide to subscribe to the fiber service, it will be billed directly through Mainstream.

“Fiber access has been a longstanding and challenging issue in our area, and we made a public commitment to our members that we would work to find strategic and cost-effective ways to make high-speed internet available—this partnership is the next big step in making it happen,” said UDWI REMC CEO Doug Childs. “Mainstream and UDWI will use the electric distribution infrastructure already in place to significantly expand the number of members with access while keeping costs of building the fiber network down. We are setting the stage to make our residents, schools and businesses more connected and more competitive in today’s digital environment.”      

While Phase One will focus on portions of Greene County, the goal of the UDWI and Mainstream partnership is to eventually offer fiber access to the majority of unserved and underserved homes in the cooperative’s service territory. The progress of this project will span a total of five to seven years and will rely partly on continued grant funding and the time needed for construction across the multiple counties in the service territory. 

More information on Mainstream can be found at www.msfiber.com and www.udwiremc.com. Please follow UDWI REMC on Facebook for additional updates.

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About Mainstream Fiber Networks Founded in Nashville, Indiana, Mainstream Fiber Networks is a Fiber to the Premise (FTTP) internet service provider that understands the need for affordable, high-speed internet in Indiana’s rural communities. Mainstream’s success is based on its customer satisfaction and its partnership with the local communities we serve. To learn more, visit www.msfiber.net.

(Left to right in image: Journeymen Michael Nail & Will Padgett and Apprentice Zane Anderson)

Bloomfield, Ind. (Aug. 28, 2024) — For the first time, UDWI REMC linemen Michael Nail, Will Padgett, and Zane Anderson participated in the Indiana Electric Cooperatives Lineman Rodeo at the Hendricks County Fairgrounds August 22 and 23.

The Indiana Electric Cooperatives Lineman Rodeo allows for electric co-ops across the state to come together and compete against each other, aiming for professional recognition among their peers. Throughout the rodeo event, the three linemen— made up of two Journeymen, Michael Nail and Will Padgett, and one Apprentice, Zane Anderson— competed in a variety of team events.

The team events, meant to display how the cooperative linemen are able to navigate high-pressure situations and solve crises, were Hurt Man Rescue, OCR Changeout, Phase Down Line Restoration, and Cross Arm Changeout. The UDWI REMC linemen took on these event challenges for the first time this year, and were able to navigate the competition smoothly, ending with scores in the middle of their competitors— an impressive accomplishment considering UDWI linemen have not competed in the Lineman Rodeo before.

“We are all very proud of our fantastic linemen and are proud of the skill and professionalism they displayed,” expresses Doug Childs, CEO of UDWI REMC. This sentiment is shared by all those at UDWI REMC who are thrilled that their linemen were represented in the rodeo.

“We were all very grateful that management gave us the opportunity to compete with other linemen throughout the state,” comments participant and Journeyman Michael Nail. He continues, “We felt that we did very well for our first time at the event, and we now know areas that we can improve. Hopefully we get the opportunity to compete again and show our improvement.”

In the future, UDWI REMC is looking forward to continuing to show off their skills through the Indiana Electric Cooperatives Lineman Rodeo. Thank you to all those who came out to Hendricks County Fairgrounds to cheer on the linemen; UDWI is excited to see supporters at the Lineman Rodeo again next year.

To stay updated on event news and other UDWI REMC announcements, follow UDWI on Facebook or visit their website at www.udwiremc.com.

BLOOMFIELD, Ind. (April 26, 2024) — The Utilities District of Western Indiana REMC held its 88th annual meeting Wednesday at the cooperative’s headquarters and renewed its slate of officers for its Board of Directors.

One new director, Terry McDaniel, replaces incumbent Dax Collins for District 7 and joins the eight-member board, which includes Edward Cullison (President), Melinda Hendrix (Vice President), David Kirkling, Todd Carpenter, Shawn Dugan as well as Michael Williams, District 5 (Treasurer) and Sophie Haywood, District 8 (Secretary), who were both re-elected for their third terms.

“I am thrilled to be elected and excited to serve the people of my area along with all of the members of UDWI. I look forward to learning more about the most important issues facing the cooperative and contributing to future success,” said McDaniel. “Our annual meeting had so much great information and positive updates. I was very happy to see that improvements in tree-trimming and technology are lowering the number of outages, and that despite the conditions that crews work in while they are restoring power, they have an outstanding safety record.” 

Although two of this year’s seats were uncontested, the cooperative bylaws require candidates receive a mandated number of votes from the membership in order to validate the election. UDWI members had the opportunity to cast their votes online or by mail before the annual meeting or in person during the event, which again produced strong voter participation with just under 1,800 votes cast, accounting for more than 10 percent of UDWI members.

CEO Doug Childs’ annual meeting presentation focused on ‘Measuring the Past, Building the Future’ and covered a variety of topics including safety and training, reliability and member service, fiber expansion, and community support.

UDWI employees completed over 2,000 hours of safety and job skills training in the past year and conducted eight public electrical safety training events. The cooperative also announced a commitment to 100 percent participation in safety training for employees in the coming year along with eight additional safety training events, with a focus on first responders.

“We are committed to working with our first responders and offering training to keep them safe,” said Childs. Our crews often work alongside police, fire and ambulance crews during an emergency, but we want to ensure that when we aren’t on site that they have the knowledge to protect them and the public.”

This past year UDWI continued its work to manage vegetation along powerlines, with 426 miles of powerline trimmed and cleared. Crews also replaced more than 800 poles and built 13 miles of new power lines to replace sections of aging and outdated lines. These improvements resulted in less outages and shorter durations for outages than in previous years.

An expanded and enhanced outage notification system was also implemented in 2023. The system is quicker and more responsive with new texting options and additional information on the online outage map such as the status of crews, duration of outage, and when possible, the cause of the outage. Additionally, a new handbook is now available at the cooperative and online that provides information for all of the services, payment options and benefits for UDWI members.

Childs also reported on the cooperative’s continued collaboration with leaders at WestGate@Crane Technology Park in anticipation of micro-electronics companies coming to the area. UDWI is planning for increased power supply needs as well as special economic rates for new commercial customers. Additionally, UDWI is adding partnerships to expand fiber options throughout the entire service territory. With agreements already underway with Smithville and SCI, UDWI announced earlier this month that it will partner with Mainstream Fiber Networks to implement the largest-to-date fiber expansion effort for the area for over the next five years.

Top priorities for the cooperative in 2024 will focus on the replacement of aging infrastructure, vegetation management and improving reliability. The cooperative plans to replace 35 miles of line in 2024, and expand the use of smart grid technology, which helps prevent outages by identifying potential problems in real time and digitally relaying information to the UDWI operations team.

“Our line crews, employees and board continue to put in the hard work and it is a privilege to get to work with this group of skilled, dedicated people. I want to thank each of them for their commitment to our members,” said Childs. “Our linemen worked more than 7,000 hours of overtime last year, often in the worst conditions to restore power, and it does not go unnoticed. We have an aggressive plan in 2024 for installing new lines, making repairs, and overall improving our system and we will reach our goals with this team.”

Childs also shared the co-op’s commitment to its community. In 2023, UDWI’s Community Fund awarded over $61,000 across 35 charitable organizations throughout the cooperative’s service territory. The group prioritizes funding charities that feed the hungry, veterans’ organizations, libraries, churches and schools in UDWI’s 11 counties. In addition, UDWI was able to issue more than 10,000 capital credit checks, returning over $835,000 to its members. 

Childs’ complete presentation is available on the UDWI website. The Board of Directors will hold its first meeting of the new term on Monday, May 20 at 6:30 p.m.

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Utilities District of Western Indiana REMC (UDWI REMC) located in Bloomfield, Ind., is an electric utility cooperative that serves nearly 16,000 members in Clay, Daviess, Greene, Knox, Lawrence, Martin, Monroe, Owen, Putnam, Sullivan and Vigo counties and maintains over 2,000 miles of line.