Austin, Minnesota - Cooperative Response Center, Inc. (CRC) is pleased to announce the recent appointment of a new district 1 director to its nine-member Board of Directors.

On December 17, 2009, CRC’s Board of Directors appointed Steven Wattnem, CEO of Cooperative Light & Power Association (CLP) in Two Harbors, Minn., as a district 1 director to its nine-member Board.

Wattnem, who has a Bachelor of Science degree from St. Cloud State University, has worked at CLP as its general manager/CEO since 1984. CLP is an electric cooperative providing retail electric and other services to nearly 6,000 members in northeastern Minnesota. Wattnem also serves as the chairman of both the Lake View Memorial Hospital Foundation and the North Shore Business Enterprise Center.

“CLP is a charter member of CRC,” Wattnem says. “I’m excited to be on CRC’s Board of Directors and learn more about how the company operates.” “CLP has had many business opportunities in the technology area, and therefore CRC’s tagline of ‘Focusing on the Human Side of Technology’ has real meaning to me,” Wattnem added.

Wattnem was appointed to fill the Board seat of recently retired Board member Dale Hendrickson, former general manager of Todd-Wadena Electric Cooperative in Wadena, Minn. Hendrickson held a seat on CRC’s Board of Directors since 2001, serving as its secretary since 2008. CRC would like to thank Hendrickson for his dedicated service to CRC during the past eight years. David Oelkers, General Manager of Riverland Energy Cooperative of Arcadia, Wisconsin, was elected as secretary of CRC’s Board of Directors, the role previously held by Hendrickson, also at its December 17, 2009, Board meeting.

About CRC
CRC is a nationwide, cooperatively owned and operated, 24/7 contact center and central station. Founded in 1992, CRC has steadily increased the size and scope of its operation with offices in Austin, Minn., and Dunlap, Tenn. CRC serves 253 members and associate members in 37 states, representing 3.3 million consumers.