27 DEC 2019 · The start of a New Year is a time when people make resolutions to make changes or improvements in their life. While I'm mildly successful in following through with these resolutions, I do think about a restart or a new beginning each new year. On my list each year, the usual ones like lose weight, run more and be nicer to Ed Wolff. All three will require focus, concentration and hard work to achieve.  While personal resolutions are important, I've also thought about what resolutions we want for NISC in 2020. After thinking about this for a while, I think I can sum it up in a simple statement. I want NISC to be better at the end of 2020 than at the start. Of course, there are hundreds of ways to make this happen. They all require focus, concentration and hard work to achieve. We are here to serve our members. We're here to find better and innovative ways to serve our members. This might be an improved process in RDQ that results in more throughput of changes and products or the new member value team, both will get NISC to a stronger position.  The most important part of any change is improvement, is talent and employees who have a single focus to better the organization in their everyday jobs. My hope for the new year is the vision is clear and the challenge exciting. Together we will accomplish many things that we will look back on and think, yes, we are in a much better place than this time last year. We are committed to making NISC an exciting, challenging and rewarding place to build our careers.  I thank you for all you've done during 2019 to make NISC successful and I look forward to the New Year with great anticipation of what we can accomplish together.  Happy New Year, Dan

17 OCT 2019 · It was June of 1986. At that point in my career, I had gratefully worked in the industry for ten years. And I remember thinking to myself that I had found my calling, and I could see myself retiring from this industry. My phone rang. I picked it up, and I immediately recognized the voice on the other end as Ray Clouse, the CEO of NCDC. I had worked with Ray and his staff over the years as a member of NCDC and often times as a beta test site for their products. My conversation with Ray was short and to the point which was typical for Ray. "Dosch, get your butt over here. I've got a job for you." No interview, no personality test, no background check, no reference checks. He had made up his mind and would not take no for an answer. To be honest, my first reaction was no and heck no. I was comfortable where I was. It was a secure, well-paying job, and the position that Ray was offering was certainly a challenge, but the financial and market position of NCDC at that time was tenuous at best. They were a struggling startup, strapped for cash, struggling to get a foothold in a difficult, undefined, and volatile market. My head was screaming no. But my heart. And my intuition said this is exactly where I needed to be. So much to the disappointment and against the advice of my father. I took the job, and as they say, I have never looked back. In retrospect, next to marrying Lynn, this was the most impactful decision I had made in my life. That unlikely turn in my career has opened up opportunities, allowed me to travel to all 50 states and the world, has stretched me personally, intellectually, and physically. It has taught me important life lessons, allowed me to fail and recover, but, most importantly, has afforded me the opportunity to establish critical, life-changing, and enduring relationships and friendships. In addition, it is provided for my family, made house payments, paid tuition, covered the birth of our children, and broken bones and stitches that go along with raising a young family. But it has also given me the opportunity to retire and to refocus my life when I still have my health and the opportunity to participate in the lives of our children and grandchildren. But back to my story. Ray was a man's man, a marine, a cowboy, an opinionated, hard-drinking, no-nonsense leader who was a bit short in the compassion and empathy realm but excelled in defying the odds and dispelling the naysayers when life presented challenges. His favorite saying was "lead, follow or get the heck out of the way." Some would rightfully say that Ray's management style was authoritarian or autocratic. During those early years, we didn't have time to browse the Community or participate in a virtual employee meeting, attend to Meetup or listen to an NISC minute. We were fighting to survive as an organization. And Ray. Well, Ray was just the man to lead us. His management style was well suited for the years we spent as a struggling startup. All of those memories were running through my head as I headed west on Interstate 94, traveling to a small town of Golva, North Dakota, to the funeral of my friend, my boss, and the person who believed in me when perhaps I didn't believe in myself. Ray Clouse. It had been 26 years since Ray walked out the door of NCDC and headed into Retirement. He was drawn back to the ranch, the beauty and the majesty of the North Dakota badlands where he grew up. It was here herding his cattle on a horse, listening to the quiet of the prairie where he found his peace far away from the hustle, bustle, trials, and tribulations of being CEO of a technology co-operative. The church was full. The service was poignant, and it was comforting to see Ray's kids, who had grown two adults since the last time I had seen them. His wife, Judy, stood stoically surrounded and supported by her children. Ray had lived an amazing life, a life that was full of adventure, laughter, family, and friends. There were few tears on this day. Rather, the air was full with laughter and stories. Ray stories. Everyone who knew him had a few. Ray would not have tolerated any sadness or sniffling, rather. Today was the day that his friends pulled out the good stuff, the Pendleton whiskey, to toast to Ray and his colorful and impactful life. I believe that certain people come into our lives for a reason. And I, for one, am grateful that Ray came into my life to radically change its direction and set me on a course that was most unexpected. We gathered at his gravesite on a cold and blustery North Dakota fall morning. The fall sun warmed our faces and our hearts. The ever-present North Dakota wind gently move the prairie grass that surrounded the gravesite. A military contingent conducted a 21 gun salute. Ray would have liked that a fitting end to a strong and committed soldier who loved his family, his country, and his God. Thanks, Ray Clouse, for what you have done for me and my family. Rest in peace, my friend, and may this final ride into the sunset bring you the joy and assurance of a life well-lived. Thanks for listening. I appreciate you, Vern

29 AUG 2019 · Vern: More than 44 years ago, when I started my career, I never imagined that someday I would have the opportunity to sit in the CEO’s chair.  I was a wet behind the ears, idealistic, naive newbie to the industries.  I knew very little about the Utility and Telecommunication and even less about the cooperative business model. Many of you know that my career began at Capital Electric an NISC Member. And For a young college graduate, capital offered a good wage, excellent benefits and much needed stability in my life after four years in college. I will be forever grateful for the start that Capital Electric Cooperative provided for me, and that experience of being a user of NISC’s technical solutions was one that I would carry with me for my entire career.  Now While I cherished my time at Capital, something was stirring inside of me. Something that told me that there was more out there I should be doing. And with that, I followed my heart and took a giant leap of faith and ventured on.  The rest, they say, is history, the challenges of a struggling start-up technology company, The development of iVUE … The merger of two competitors … Two cultures becoming one … Offers came to buy NISC – name your price, they said … And yet, we embraced our roots our Members and employees and remained a Member-owned cooperative. Our employee base has doubled in the past five years.  Our Membership spans all 50 states and beyond. Today, we offer an enterprise solution that rivals the best of breed solutions offered by Fortune 500 companies. And yet I believe we’re just on the cusp of launching the most revolutionary software solution to ever hit our industries …  we call it iVUE Connect. Now Make no mistake, NISC is not even begun to reach its full potential. Our future projections show a thoughtful and calculated growth. A steady path of improved efficiencies, service and economies of scale. One could say, there’s never been a more critical time for NISC. And a more promising time. … And, a time to reflect on it all, breathe in an overwhelming sense of gratitude, and step back and transition NISC into capable, committed and devoted hands. It seems crazy to transition away from an organization that I love, co-workers that I respect and admire and a Membership base that it is an absolute honor to serve.  NISC family, I have submitted my notice to the NISC Board of directors of my intentions to retire beginning in January of 2020. My wife Lynne and I have been contemplating this decision for several years, and it comes after a great deal of discussions with the NISC leadership team, board and my family. I am so proud of what the NISC family has accomplished, and I leave on an extremely positive note, knowing NISC is in excellent hands, and in a position of strength. The criteria the Board placed for my successor ensured that NISC’s next CEO would: 1) Uphold and strengthen our culture. 2) Be a servant leader and 3) Value, maintain and build upon our relationships – throughout the employee-base, Membership and industry partners. I must underscore that we have been aggressively preparing for this day. The NISC board has been actively developing a CEO Succession Plan for the past 24 months. While the Board was confident in our talent and succession planning pipeline here at NISC, they also took their fiduciary responsibility extremely seriously. As such, they utilized a respected search firm and conducted a nationwide search. After this careful and diligent search, I’m pleased to announce that Dan Wilbanks  NISC VP of RD&Q and our Chief Operating Officer was selected as my successor. To me this board action underscores the belief in and commitment to our employees, and the boards determination to honor our employees and promote from within, too often we have seen organizational cultures destroyed and turned inside out by someone comes in and does not understand the values, culture and mission, but not here at NISC. We have much work ahead of us, so we must not lose sight of our mission and the responsibility we have to serve our Members / Owners and each other as colleagues. As I begin this next chapter in my life, you need to know that I am not going anywhere, my focus will be on being part of a successful and uneventful transition, and I am willing to stay engaged for as long as that takes and as long as Dan deems necessary. One more thing: I feel like the luckiest man in the world, my wife Lynne our kids Zachary, Brittany, Jordan mean the world to me and I’m looking forward to being part of our six grandchildren’s lives, and in my spare time perhaps checking off a few things from my bucket list like hiking the Sangre De Christo  in Spain, the Appalachia Trail on the east coast and the Pacific Crest trail on the west coast.  There are national parks to visit and fish to tame with my flyrod, trails to explore on my mountain bike and rivers and streams to kayak but I will tell you this while all of that might sound fun and fulfilling: My single greatest accomplishment and single greatest joy next to my family is the team that we have assembled here at NISC and the company that we have built together,  a company that we can believe in and be proud of. You have inspired me, you have energized me, question, prodded, coached and admonishments me to do the right thing always and that has, made me a better person, husband, father, grandfather and hopefully CEO.   The memories of my years here at NISC will soon fade, but the culture and quest for excellence will continue and propel this organization to new heights.  I have had an opportunity to work with Dan Wilbanks for the past 19 years. I acknowledge the decades of his service to this organization. In all honesty I have never met a more committed, humble, dedicated and determined individual than Dan, and it has been an absolute privilege to call him friend, colleague and to serve NISC alongside of him. Knowing that NISC is in such trustworthy and experienced hands allows me to feel very good about this transition.  And now, I’d like to welcome your next CEO, Mr. Dan Wilbanks. Dan: Thanks, Vern for the kind words. I am so honored to be sitting here with you today.   BTW this is the first time we talked, and you didn’t ask me about a project deadline. I want to thank the NISC board of directors for the opportunity to take on this role. I look forward to the challenge.   NISC, has accomplished great things under Vern’s leadership. He will be leaving NISC with a bright future.   I will do all I can to continue the path of success and service to our members.  NISC greatest asset is all of you and the work you do for our member each day. The VP team and I are committed to keeping NISC a great place to work and build a career. I assure you my commitment to our culture is a top priority.   Our culture is what we value.   Things like Service to our Members, hard work, and building strong relationships internally and externally.  It’s what makes NISC a special place. Over the next few months I will meet with all the teams and we will have the chance to get to know each other better.  Together we will keep the momentum going and take NISC to exciting places. Our Members will be counting on a smooth transition and Vern and I will do everything we can to make sure that happens.  Vern,  Thanks for all you have done for NISC Thanks for showing us how to lead with integrity. Thanks for your mentorship. Thanks for your friendship. Thanks for being Vern, which in itself is amazing. I  promise that we will take good care of the organization you love.  Vern: Thank you, Dan. It’s been an honor working with you throughout our history, and even more, I treasure your friendship and your commitment to doing the right thing, always. It’s going to be fun although a bit hard be on the sidelines and to watch NISC grow under your leadership. You are surrounded by a very competent and dedicated Vice President group and supported by an engaged Board of Directors, so I am very confident of your success.

22 AUG 2019 · For the past 50 years, NISC marketing and industry personnel have been driving down I-94 through Montana. About 150 miles from the North Dakota border is a small town by the name of Forsyth. A rugged Montana town sustained by local farming and ranching. It's a part of Montana where miles upon miles separate farms and ranches. A part of the country where broadband and telecommunications services are vital and literally the critical link between those hearty Montana souls and the rest of the world.  It is a harsh and many times hostile part of the country. Harsh winters, unrelenting heat in the summer, certainly not an easy part of the country to serve an isolated membership with state-of-the-art telecommunication and broadband services.  As you travel down this sparsely populated Main Street, there is a bright spot. A vibrant business a pillar of the community a critical link from this part of the country to the rest of the world. A resilient bridge across the technology divide in rural America. Its Range Telecommunication. A pillar of the community that has been serving eastern Montana for the past 65 years.  This rural telephone co-operative is an excellent example of the typical NISC member, but unfortunately, Range has never been a member of NISC. It has not been for lack of trying as year after year we've made overtures, work to build relationships with one CEO after another to no avail. It was frustrating for us, but we were determined to continue our efforts looking forward to the day where we could welcome Range into the NISC family.  We have always said that this is a relationship business. Doors are open by relationships and kept tightly closed when they are absent. Recently, we saw a glimmer of hope. A relationship with a newly minted CEO who indicated that he may be interested in visiting with us. It was a relationship that opened this door, and we were determined to use this opportunity to present our organization and demonstrate that we were worthy of their consideration. There were several hurdles and roadblocks, but in true fashion, one after another, our employees stepped up and provided solutions that kept the process moving forward.  It was a Friday afternoon, and I was weary from a week of travel that took me to multiple cities in multiple NISC offices. I was in travel mode, laptop open and connected, working through a week of e-mail that had accumulated. I was focused on getting home that Friday evening. My phone rang as I was boarding the plane and after a polite greeting and some small talk we got down to business. Had she talked to the CEO of Range.? Yes. Had they made their decision? Yes. And drum roll...NISC has been selected as their I.T. partner. I wanted to jump up and cheer. We had waited so long. Our patience was wearing thin, and some said it would never happen. But they were wrong.  Relationships and determination and the tenacity of NISC paid off, and it felt very good. No. It felt incredible. I settled into my seat on the final leg of my flight with a smile on my face. It was going to be a great weekend.  Once again, my confidence in this organization had been strengthened. The power of relationships had once again been confirmed.  I love it when a plan comes together even if it takes 50 years.  Thanks for listening. I appreciate you, Vern

16 JUL 2019 · The year was 1992 and I was given the opportunity by our board of directors to be NCDC CEO.  I was young, inexperienced, and frankly very naive.  As I was sitting in Ray Clouse's office on his last day as CEO. He gave me one final piece of sage advice. "Dosch" he said "this is a damn lonely job." I nodded my head to acknowledge his final words of wisdom but my inner voice was saying well it may be lonely for you Mr. Clouse but not for me.  Today, 27 years later I must admit that Mr. Clouse was absolutely right. Sometimes this is a very lonely job and I don't say that looking for sympathy because there are so many attributes of this job that are wonderful and amazing and engaging and fulfilling. But yes Mr. Clouse was right. There are times this can be a lonely job.  I remember so clearly the first day in this position. I waited until after 5:00 o'clock to begin moving into that corner office so as not to seem too anxious or pretentious. And I finished moving in at about 8 o'clock and that evening I know I was the only one left in the building at that time and I sat in the big chair for the first time. And it is difficult for me to explain the overwhelming sense of responsibility that I felt. In the years working next to Mr. Clouse there were times when I did not agree with his decisions or his strategies but I always kind of brushed those off as knowing that, you know, the CEO was ultimately responsible for the success or failure of this organization, not me.  But today that had changed and I was reminded that it was President Harry Truman who kept a sign with the phrase "The buck stops here" on his desk and that phrase truly became a reality and a not so subtle burden that would become my ever present companion for the next twenty seven plus years.    In those early years I felt the responsibility of having to be knowledgeable about virtually every facet of our business. This perceived requirement was truly overwhelming as I struggled to keep up with what was the growing scope of our business. The reality that I faced in those early years was that I thought in order to be a successful leader of NISC you needed to be strong in accounting and finance. You needed to be a champion and an advocate of our employees. You needed to carry the NISC brand into the marketplace in an unrelenting effort to keep our pipeline of new business full. You needed to be an extraordinary technician always staying abreast of emerging technologies in their application to the NISC enterprise. You needed to have a keen legal mind protecting our organization from undue risk. And a very important responsibility was to have the ability to translate the ever changing requirements of our members into products and services that would expand the NISC enterprise. Managing a complex schedule of implementations being a expert on project management and providing mission critical support to our members were also perceived responsibilities of this job.  They say that wisdom comes with age and the realization that it was impossible for myself or virtually anyone to truly carry out these perceived responsibilities led me to understand that in order to provide the leadership that NISC would require meant building a strong and diverse Vice President group, a competent managers group, an emerging talent represented by our team leads. To be effective these groups would bear much of the burden of this organization. They would bring their subject matter expertise, their strong and diverse opinions, and most importantly a sense of servant leadership to our organization.    Putting this leadership group together is and will be a painstaking process. It was to be a group of Type A personalities driven, committed, and selfless. The reality was that this unique combination of leadership would take years to assemble with several misses along the way. Always looking for the correct seat on the bus for each of these leaders.  Today, when I think of our accomplishments here at NISC. I don't think about the products or our facilities. It's not our membership base or our financial position. Rather I believe our greatest accomplishment is the management team and our base of employees that has been and is being built. The vice presidents, managers, team leads who provide leadership, guidance, mentoring, innovation, discipline, and inspiration to our organization and to the entire group of NISC employees who are focused on serving each other and serving our members. Together each of us with our own unique personalities and skill set share the responsibility of delivering technology and support to over eight hundred members systems across the country.    I am not the smartest person in the room and the burden of leading this organization is not just on the CEO shoulders, thank goodness, but this leadership group and the incredible collection of thirteen hundred and forty eight employees have demonstrated that we are a force to be reckoned with. Competing with some of the largest and most powerful software companies in the world and winning. Yes, winning. Creating a culture that although is not perfect is strong, unique, compassionate, focused, and driven is our most important strategic initiative. If we get that right well then NISC will continue to grow. Continue to improve the level of products and services we deliver to our member owners and continue to nurture and evolve a culture that allows our employees to grow in their skills and abilities and be fully engaged in truly meaningful and impactful work. Thanks for listening. I appreciate you, Vern. 

17 JUN 2019 · During our 50 year history, we have experienced and successfully navigated through an amazing transformation of the telecommunications industry as they went from plain old telephone service to delivering robust broadband. In the utility industry, we have watched and assisted in the transmission from a sleepy analog industry to a dynamic, smart grid-enabled enterprise powered by fossil fuels as well as renewables like wind and solar. Although NISC is not immune from the global, political, and economic volatility of the industries we serve. We have a great deal to be thankful for as we consider the historical stability of our organization. We are seeing a growing number of companies that we have competed against for 30 plus years simply go out of business or make a last-gasp effort at a merger, consolidation, or a sale. Without a doubt, we are seeing a massive consolidation in this industry, and there will certainly be winners and losers. And make no mistake we are laser focused on being a winner. The deployment to iVUE as well as our recent acquisition of EDD and Affinegy are increasing the scope of the breakthrough innovative products that comprise NISC enterprise solution. In the marketplace, our brand has never been stronger or more relevant. Our commitment to delivering an elevated member experience is unwavering and emphasized by our "Membership Amplified" advertising campaign. While we have our challenges, member expectations, employee expectations, and deadlines to meet, my confidence in our organization has never been greater. We are nearing the end of our fiscal year, which will once again be record setting with highest revenues, margins, and a robust pipeline of new business. The best in our history. How cool is that? While those financial metrics are very important as an organization, we have chosen a different path. We have chosen to embrace a culture that places emphasis on the well-being of our employees both at work and at home. Working to create and build a healthy and productive work environment as well as supporting the work-life balance of our employees at home. It's a tough balance, especially in this 24 by seven world that we operate in and admittedly we don't get this balance right all the time. But we are relentless in working towards that goal. I have come to understand that our ability to continue building and improving the member experience, the robustness of our products, and the strength and consistency of our culture is all based on the quality of the individual contributions of each of our employees. Our People Services Division and the Vice President group is continually questioning if we're doing the right things, If we're doing enough focused on the right things the pay, the benefits, the policies, the employee events, the amenities. Are we focusing on the things that really matter to our employees? Our quarterly Pulse survey gives us a good indication if we're making progress in those areas and where we need to improve. For the past 16 years, we have held our breath when the Computerworld Best Places to Work survey results were released hoping upon hope that we would once again see NISC name on that coveted list. This year's survey did not disappoint as NISC was ranked 19th in the midsize company category. It should be noted that this was the first year that NISC was moved up from the small company category to midsize and we can only expect that as our employee population grows and we move up in the categories, the competition will get stiffer. There are many best of surveys out there. The majority of them require you to purchase advertising or pay a designated amount to be included in the list. As NISC, we have chosen to avoid all of those surveys as we do not believe that they accurately represent the sentiments and perspective of our employees and tend to be biased and not entirely honest. On the other hand, the Computerworld survey directly and independently surveys our employees. NISC has never made any payment to Computerworld and is very confident that the results have a great deal of integrity and credibility. On another note, my thanks to Brett Wetzel. Shannon Bogren, Joe Vonarx and Amy Gietzen for the role that they played in the red letter video that was posted today on the community. If you haven't seen the video, I strongly recommend that you take a look. Their stories are heartfelt and the production by our Communication Division, as we have come to expect, is simply outstanding. So today we celebrate our Computerworld ranking with a traditional red-letter day. Our way of saying thanks for the commitment each of you has made, the contribution of your skills, experience, dedication, and imagination to this organization. We are very grateful. We will never take your contributions for granted, and we will work tirelessly to create a workplace and a culture that is challenging, invigorating, provides career and learning opportunities, and a place that you are proud to work for. A place that treats you with the respect that you deserve. Thank you for listening. I appreciate you, Vern

28 MAY 2019 · At NISC, we have always taken succession planning very seriously. Each January, the Vice President group and I update a comprehensive matrix that identifies at least three possible candidates for every team lead manager senior manager vice president and the CEO of NISC. The succession matrix is presented to the NISC Board of Directors at our January strategic planning session. This valuable exercise helps us to accomplish several objectives. The first, is to identify a successor in the event of a departure or a retirement for every supervisor here at NISC. The second purpose is to identify those areas in our organization where we need to initiate development plans for those designated employees. In other words, the employee identified as a possible successor isn't quite ready. They may be missing certain skills, experience, or the abilities that they need, and they need some assistance to be strengthened in those areas. So we put together a comprehensive development plan for that employee to help them move closer to the next career opportunity. And the final reason we go through succession planning is to identify and coach those employees that are included in the succession plan. We want them to understand the level of confidence that we have in them and the potential we believe that they have to take the next step in their career eventually. Now, with the departure of Jasper, we turn to that succession plan. It was an early morning conversation with Susan Imm, then NISC Manager of Utility Business Development and Sales. In the succession plan, Susan had been designated as the successor for Jasper. When I asked her if she would be willing to assume the responsibilities of the interim Vice President of Member & Industry I was relieved when her response to my request was "Vern, absolutely, If you feel that I can bring value to NISC I'm all in." Susan's reply produced a great deal of relief for the vice president group and me as this is such a critical position in our organization. We knew that we had to act decisively to provide the appropriate leadership for our employees in the division and so as not to disrupt our relationship with both our existing and prospective members. Susan has 25 years of experience in the utility software industry, She has led the utility sales team here at NISC for over six years, and she has demonstrated not only her effectiveness, as an integral part of growing NISC pipeline of new business, but more importantly her actions have demonstrated the effective and sincere way in which she has embraced the values and the culture of our organization. In her interim role, she was quickly and confidently recognized as she became an effective and trusted participant in our Vice President deliberations. In this case, our succession planning efforts identified a candidate in whom we have full confidence that has the required experience, skills, and most important values to step into this position. In her short time as interim Susan has demonstrated why she had been identified as a possible successor. I am so pleased to announce that we have decided to remove the interim part of her title and that she has also been selected as a member not only of our Vice President group but also of NISC's Strategy Committee. At NISC, we have a great tradition of promoting from within and providing career opportunities for our employees. The selection of Susan as Vice President of Member & Industry continues that important tradition. With this decision behind us, we will now begin the process of posting for Susan's former position, the Manager of Utility Sales and will start the interview process shortly. Please help me in congratulating Susan Imm. Thank you. I appreciate you, Vern

1 APR 2019 · For those of you who have been at NISC for a while, you have heard me talk about Jim Collins and the book Good to Great. I first read this book in 2001 the year that it was published and I must say that of all the business books and all the authors I have read, in my career, This one made a profound impact on me and the culture of NISC. Many business books are simply the author's opinion and we all have an opinion including you and I. But what always impresses me with the writings of Jim Collins is that his conclusions were not his opinions, rather, they were the findings of his extensive research. Since this book Good to Great was originally released in 2001 it has sold millions of copies and today, 18 years later, over three hundred thousand copies are sold annually which, to me, makes it a very relevant and impactful book. Now to write this book Collins and his staff of 20 started with 1435 companies. They examined their performance over 40 years and based on that research they identified companies that successfully made the transition from good companies to great companies and in the process distinguish themselves from their competitors. This is where I disagree with Mr. Collins. The majority of the criteria for determining if a company was great or not when compared to their peers, financial measurements. Financial metrics like a stock price, market share, return to the shareholders in terms of dividends which I all agree are important financial measurements but for our culture here at NISC, they are not the only measurements. For us, the satisfaction and engagement of our stakeholders consisting of our member-owners, our board, and our employees are at the top of our list right next to the financial performance of NISC. Being a good corporate citizen, giving back to our communities, creating a healthy and ethical work environment, while building a culture of trust. These are all metrics that we believe are also very important. I do not believe that trading our time and talents just to maximize financial performance is really very motivating. Rather we believe that while financial performance and stability are very important because any business whether for-profit, nonprofit, or cooperative will not be able to deliver on their mission and vision if they are not financially strong and stable and producing a consistent margin. But there just has to be a greater purpose and cause for doing what we do the traveling, the deadlines, the pressure, the stress, our desperate attempts to balance work life, almost lead us to a greater cause or it simply isn't worth it. In the 1960s there was a famous singer named Peggy Lee who is born in Jamestown North Dakota in 1920. Her most notable song was titled "Is That All There Is". So we work ourselves to the bone, we make significant sacrifices for our families for what? A bigger bottom line? More dividends to the shareholders? Really? Is that like Peggy Lee would say all there is? The culture of NISC says "no that is not all there is". There is more to our lives than just financial metrics it's about family, it's about providing for our families, It's about our communities, It's about doing meaningful and impactful work that makes our world a better place to live like delivering electric power to some of the most difficult and remote places in the United States and providing broadband which helps us to bridge the digital divide in our country. That is why we get out of bed in the morning. Our work gives us purpose and meaning beyond just a paycheck. So although I may disagree with the criteria for measuring greatness I am absolutely a student of Jim Collins and his definition of great leadership and great companies is so important to me and to NISC. So imagine my excitement when NISC was recently asked to participate in a small group of about 12 individuals to have a direct conversation with none other than Jim Collins. I felt like a small boy meeting a storybook hero. I don't want to be overly dramatic but seriously this was one of the most important events in my professional career. The atmosphere at this meeting was intense. Mr. Collins peppered us for two hours with questions while he took copious notes. While I would rank the professional stature of Mr. Collins right up there with Stephen Covey, Tom Peters, Peter Drucker, Peter Senge, Ken Blanchard, and Simon Sinek I was absolutely taken back by his humility. his directness, and his intense passion. It was clear to me that this leadership icon achieves that stature because he was passionate and he was a perpetual student of leadership always learning and always asking the hard questions. Now while some of the companies that Jim Collins identified as great companies in 2001 have since gone out of business or disappeared into oblivion, It was clear to me from listening to him that Jim Collins had moved on and his views of leadership and greatness had evolved as well they should. He wrote a sequel to good the great entitled "How the Mighty Fail" which drove home the point of how tenuous greatness is and how difficult it is to maintain your leadership position for an extended period of time in any market. I think there's a lesson there for our organization. So there you have it. A face to face meeting with one of my most influential mentors. Can you see the big smile on my face? And by the way, if you're in the neighborhood, stopped by my office. I would love to show you my brand new copy of good to great with, you guessed it, a coveted signature by none other than the author himself. Thanks for listening. I appreciate you. Vern

22 FEB 2019 · NISC is an organization that is dedicated to delivering enterprise technology solutions to our member-owners. These mission-critical components are essential for our member-owners to operate their business in the most efficient manner, improving their customer experience and maintaining their competitiveness and to do that they embrace the power of NISC technologies. Now the best analogy that I could present is that NISC enterprise is the virtual heartbeat of our member-owners organization. As employees, it is for us to understand the significance of our work whether you're designing, developing, implementing, or supporting the various modules of the enterprise or maintaining the infrastructure. We all need to be mindful that these 7 by 24, always on, nature of our business and solutions is all-consuming in its responsibility. Without our solutions, our members are dead in the water. They can't issue a bill, settling accounts payable, pay their employees, or serve the members at the end of the line without the NISC enterprise. Gone are the days, when the system was shut down at 5 o'clock for a four and a half hour backup making the system inaccessible. Today If the systems we provide even begin to slow down it's a crisis. Did I mention to you that the work you do is very important? Now over the years, we have built our enterprise methodically one function, one module at a time. Our board has supported our efforts, year after year, by approving our ever increasing research and development budget and never once, not once, have they not approved our request for building or increasing our staff. As you consider our enterprise arguably 90 percent of our solution has been designed, built, installed, and supported by NISC employees. With each addition to our enterprise, we go through that build versus buy analysis. The question is, is it best long term if we build the solution ourselves or should we buy or partner to secure the intellectual property that would be required? Partnering with ESRI for our geospatial system and Information Builders for our business intelligence tools are examples where we have partnered with a leading provider, and we've taken their solution and embedded that technology seamlessly into our enterprise rather than build it from scratch. For the last ten years we have partnered with Electrical Distribution Design or EDD, as they are known, for critical components to our operational analytics product. EDD is a 20-year-old company closely associated with Virginia Tech and staffed mainly with a group of individuals that have their masters and PhDs in electrical engineering. This staff has largely been devoted to smart grid research, many times funded with grants from the Department of Energy. Several years ago we began our relationship with EDD working closely with their staff developing an understanding of how their products could bring value to our membership. EDD strength is research and solving the evolving challenges in today's modern electrical system. However, they do not have the in-house expertise required to monetize their products like marketing, communications, legal, cyber, software distribution, project management, and educational services. It is those critical skills that NISC, along with our significant national brand recognition, can bring to this partnership. About three years ago we purchased 21% of EDD that transaction gave us a board seat and the availability to develop a better understanding of the organization and its products. Within the last nine months, we received word that several of the original shareholders wanted to liquidate their shares and sell the company. NISC was selected as one of the bidders. Now I'll spare you the emotional ups and downs in negotiating tactics of the last several months only to say that in the end NISC has been selected by the shareholders of EDD as its new owner. Our accounting, legal, people services, and product teams have been working on due diligence for the last several weeks. Last week we conducted an on-site EDD employee meeting in Blacksburg Virginia the location of EDD's office. Our presentation included the history of NISC our culture, present market, and financial positions and in general what it means to be an NISC employee. We also took the time to meet individually with each employee to answer their questions and develop a better understanding of their responsibilities and the role that they play in that organization. Now if all goes according to plan, we should close this transaction on March 1st at which time EDD will become a wholly owned subsidiary of NISC. I cannot express our excitement and our confidence that this bold step will significantly advance the value of NISC enterprise and be a strong differentiating factor between NISC and our competition. Could we have developed these solutions on our own within NISC? Yes, I'm confident that we could, but frankly, we didn't have the knowledge or the staff to develop these solutions in a timely fashion. The need for these products is real and immediate and for NISC to bring them to market very quickly and efficiently by way of this transaction will be a real coup in the marketplace. So stay tuned. I'm confident the acquisition of EDD will be a significant development in NISC continuing efforts to grow our enterprise and increase the value that we deliver to our member-owners. Thanks for listening. I appreciate you, Vern

13 FEB 2019 · Over the years, no doubt, you've heard me use the phrase "only the paranoid survive". It's a popular quote that has been credited to Andy Grove, the first CEO of Intel. But what you may not know is that is only part of the quote the entire quote is "success breeds complacency. Complacency breeds failure. Only the paranoid survive," and it is that entire quote that I'd like to talk about today. At NISC we are on a rather long string of success. Literally, for the past 15 years, we have seen revenues, margins, cash, our employee base, and membership base steadily grow on a methodical climb. We have come to expect and in some cases to take for granted our progress and success. Over the past 15 years, iconic companies like General Electric have seen their share price go from 60 dollars a share to under 10 dollars today. Sears is gone from 115 dollars a share to less than a dollar today, and companies like Compaq, E.F. Hutton, Paine Webber, MCI, WorldCom, Enron, Woolworth, Arthur Andersen, and TWA have all met their demise. Now historically if you started a company in the 1920s, you generally had a 67-year run rate before another company would enter and disrupt your business. Sixty-seven years to ride the wave and enjoy prosperity. Think of how long Sears was successful only to be disrupted by Amazon. Today you start a company and, for example, MySpace is worried about Facebook, Google Plus or Instagram and what it is that will disrupt your proven and successful business model. The fact is that the disruptive cycle has gone from 67 years to 15 and 40 percent of the Fortune 500 companies on the S&P 500 today will no longer exist in 10 years. Well, guess what. NISC is 15 years into our cycle of prosperity. We have come to expect our strong growth in financial improvement and growing market share. We approach every prospect with the confidence and the expectation that we will win the business and more often than not we do. Our success in recruiting smart talented and in many cases experienced employees is at an all-time high, and that factor alone is having a significant impact on our progress, our rate of growth, the efficiency of our operation, and our development. But will we be able to defy the odds and continue our progress beyond that ominous 15-year mark? All in all, I am very confident that we will. And if I had to make a call or a prediction, I would say that we're in about inning two of a nine-inning ball game with plenty of runway for continued progress and growth and that's good. That's great for our members, and as NISC employees it is very good for our careers. But having made that bold, positive prediction, I would qualify those comments by saying we will be able to defy the odds only if we stay focused innovative. Always looking for efficiencies and improvement and never getting complacent and always remaining paranoid in a very good in a vigilant way. If our success breeds complacency and a sense of entitlement or if we start slacking, getting lazy, losing our hunger and our drive, losing our resolve, and our humility we could be heading for a demise like has happened to so many good companies before us. We have worked so hard to get to this place of strength. We simply cannot let it slide away. Today we are at a pivotal place with our iVUE releases. These next six months will determine if iVUE Connect will be a game changer launching us to new levels of success or if it will be mediocre, stumbling, pathetic, a comedy of errors in the launch that will shake the confidence of our members and our prospects. Which will it be? Anyone who thinks we are at a place where we can coast is not paying attention. Honestly, we are in a competitive battle for our lives and for our future as is every one of our competitors. Having said all that I have every confidence that we will be successful beyond our most optimistic projections but it will take an extraordinary amount of focus, passion, innovation, drive, and it will take the contribution and the dedication of every single one of our employees to pull this off. Are you in? Can I count on you? Because remember success breeds complacency. Complacency breeds failure. And only the paranoid survive. And yes I am paranoid, and I hope you are also. Thanks for listening. I appreciate you, Vern