UNITED INVITES MEMBERS TO ATTEND VIRTUAL ANNUAL MEETING IN 2021
United Cooperative Services’ 2021 Annual Meeting will be conducted virtually at 4 p.m. Friday (Oct.15) after the United Board of Directors in May decided that the uncertainty of whether the cooperative would be able to find a venue that would adequately protect the health of the membership would be available. The cooperative will, however, show its appreciation to its membership at each respective United office on the day of the Annual Meeting (Oct. 15) by providing lunch, goody bags and time to visit from 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Please feel free to stop by your local United office on that day. We’d love to see you and show our appreciation.
Members can access the 2021 Annual Meeting virtually.
Instead of traditional meeting fanfare that has included a health fair, live entertainment, and a barbecue meal in addition to the business meeting, United members this year will be invited to connect virtually and hear the meeting in progress via live electronic access from the comfort and safety of their own home, as well as to vie for their chance to win this year’s Grand Prize Cash Drawing for $1,000 if they remain on the call throughout the entire meeting. Once the access information is available, United will post it on its website, social media and in Texas Co-op Power magazine.
United’s bylaws require the cooperative to have an annual meeting every year in October. State law governs when notification of the annual meeting is sent to members.
Although members cannot attend the annual meeting in person this year, they can still participate in one of the most important co-op functions and be represented by returning their signed and completed ballot, which will be mailed in the September issue of Texas Co-op Power, along with a postage prepaid return envelope.
Deadline for receiving ballots will be by 5 p.m. Friday (Oct. 8). All ballots must be returned and postmarked before or by that date to be eligible for a variety of cash prize drawings.
The return of ballots is important since mail-in ballots this year will be the sole means to determine the existence of a quorum (at least five percent of the cooperative’s membership) required to conduct business at a meeting of the members.
Previously, members have been able to register and cast a ballot in person at the meeting.