TRI-COUNTY BOARD PROMOTES TWO TO CO-CEO POST
MANSFIELD, Pa. (June 9, 2022) — The Tri-County Rural Electric Cooperative Board of Directors has promoted two employees to fill the vacant chief executive officer position at the cooperative.
Rachel Hauser and Aaron Young were appointed to serve as the cooperative’s co-CEOs during the board’s May 24 monthly meeting.
“The Tri-County board wanted to chart a course with energetic leadership who will guide the cooperative for many years to come,” said Gerald A. “Arnie” Kriner, chairman of the Tri-County Board of Directors. “Both Rachel and Aaron have been greatly involved with business operations of the cooperative and with the growth of the Tri-Co Connections fiber broadband project. They both have proven themselves as individuals who will be able to lead the cooperative to the next level of success.”
“Additionally, Rachel and Aaron possess a great working chemistry,” Kriner continued. “We are confident they will be an effective leadership team for the cooperative, and will continue moving Tri-County forward with its mission to provide safe reliable electricity and make broad- band service available to members across our service territory.”
Hauser has been employed by Tri-County since November 2017, when she was hired as executive assistant/project specialist. She was promoted to the position of director of regulatory affairs and economic development in January 2020. In that role, she has been instrumental in guiding the cooperative’s efforts to secure funding for its broadband venture.
Prior to joining the cooperative team, Hauser, a certified economic developer, had served as economic development program manager for the Northern Tier Regional Planning and Development Commission in Towanda.
“I am honored to have the opportunity to continue working with Tri-County’s board and employees to continue our long history of serving our members well through providing reliable and affordable energy and addressing member needs,” Hauser said. “Our members are our high- est priority, and I am confident that we will continue to meet their needs into the future.”
A Bradford County native, Hauser graduated from Troy High School and earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Cedarville University in Cedarville, Ohio. She and her husband, Scott, reside in Towanda with their two children, ages 3 and 8 months.
Aaron Young most recently served as chief operating officer for Tri-Co Connections, Tri-County’s high-speed internet subsidiary. He has been responsible for directing and overseeing the broadband project, which connected its first customer in April 2020 and now delivers high-speed internet service to more than 2,500 homes and businesses in Potter and Tioga counties. Young was originally hired as the fiber company’s chief technology officer in April 2019.
Prior to joining Tri-Co Connections, he worked for Empire Access/North Penn Telephone Co. for nearly 15 years and had served as director of IP network engineering and information technology.
A Tioga County native, Young graduated from Mansfield High School and attained a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Mansfield University. He and his wife, Annette, reside in Mansfield with their three children, ages 10, 8 and 4.
“I am humbled and honored by our board’s appointment and confidence in me,” Young said. “ I am excited to continue working with our amazing staff and executing our board’s vision and commitment to serving our membership and meeting their evolving needs into the future.”
Tri-Co Connections, a subsidiary of Tri-County REC, is constructing a fiber-to-the-home high-speed internet system across the electric cooperative’s 5,000-square-mile service territory in north-central Pennsylvania.
Tri-County Rural Electric Cooperative, with headquarters in Mansfield, provides electric service to approximately 17,000 consumer-members in Potter, Tioga, Bradford, Lycoming, Clinton, McKean and Cameron counties.
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