By Design: The Story Behind the Annual Meeting Gift Boxes 

Annual meetings are a cornerstone of the cooperative model, providing a space for transparency, engagement, and shared decision-making. Tri-State’s 74th Annual Meeting brought together member-owners and employees to connect around our cooperative’s shared direction. This year’s theme, By Design, reflected the intentional choices that guide Tri-State’s work, from long-term planning to the daily decisions that ensure reliable, affordable power for the communities our members serve. 

Bringing that experience to life for several hundred attendees requires months of coordination, foresight, and collaboration. For Strategic Engagement Program Manager Danielle Kling, the Annual Meeting is a complex puzzle of member needs, logistics, and cooperative values. Every detail, from the flow of the agenda to how members experience the meeting as a whole, is carefully considered. The gift boxes are just one of many ways Kling translates strategy into tangible moments of connection. 

A Behind-the-Scenes Role 

Since 2019, Kling has been responsible for the annual meeting member gift boxes in addition to vendor management, invitations, logistics, and more. Her work requires extensive cross-functional coordination to ensure the meeting runs smoothly from start to finish. “This event is impossible without teamwork,” Kling says. “It’s about making sure the experience members have reflects the care and coordination happening behind the scenes.” 

While many of these efforts are invisible once the meeting begins, they are essential to creating a seamless event that reflects cooperative values and respects the time people invest to attend. 

Bringing the Theme to Life Through Member Gifts  

Curating the gifts is a gradual process that Kling approaches as an extension of member engagement, rather than a standalone task, and it all starts with a conversation. By reaching out to co-ops and contacts in Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, and Wyoming, Kling uncovers local businesses that members may already recognize or feel connected to. “Once you start those conversations, it’s like pulling a thread of a sweater and you’re often led somewhere you wouldn’t have found on your own,” Kling notes. “That’s part of what makes it meaningful.” 

Reinforcing the theme of intentionality and thoughtfulness, this year’s selection draws on a handmade feel with an appeal to self-care. 

Attention to Detail 

Many of the small businesses Kling works with are family-owned and rely heavily on word-of-mouth or personal relationships rather than formal marketing channels. As a result, the gifts featured at the Annual Meeting often come from places and people best known to locals: small shops and artisans rooted in the towns powered by Tri‑State’s members.  

Colorado 

Gift: Chocolate Truffles 

Business name: Chocolatté  

Co-op member: Sangre de Cristo Electric Association  

Town: Buena Vista, Colorado 

In Colorado, employees from Sangre de Cristo Electric Association helped identify a locally meaningful gift from Chocolatté, a Buena Vista–based coffee and dessert shop. The shop holds a commitment to inclusivity and local relationships, making the handcrafted chocolate truffles a fitting takeaway for members. 

Nebraska 

Gift: Hand-Poured Soy Candles 

Business name: Chuckaboo Station  

Co-op member: High West Energy  

Town: Potter, Nebraska  

In Nebraska, sourcing a gift required a series of conversations with local cooperative leaders, chambers of commerce, and community organizations. Those connections eventually led to Chuckaboo Station in Potter, a small, family-owned business operating out of a restored 1920s filling station. The handmade soy candles selected for the Annual Meeting express both the region’s craftsmanship and the cooperative ties that guided the search. 

New Mexico 

Gift: Handmade Soap 

Business name: Flavors of the Hogan  

Co-op member: Continental Divide Electric Cooperative  

Town: Gallup, New Mexico 

In New Mexico, Flavors of the Hogan is a Gallup-based business within Continental Divide Electric Cooperative’s service territory, offering traditional Navajo foods and handcrafted goods. Members received handmade natural soap made from coconut oil and beef tallow that comes directly from the business owner’s farm.  

Wyoming 

Gift: Old-Fashioned Hard Candies 

Business name: Chugwater Soda Fountain  

Co-op member: Wheatland Rural Electric Association  

Town: Chugwater, Wyoming  

In Wyoming, the search for a gift led to Chugwater Soda Fountain, the state’s oldest continuously operating soda fountain and a longtime gathering place for the community. Located in Chugwater, the shop’s head chef also specializes in old-fashioned hard candies. The candies reflect the nostalgia, hospitality, and enduring local presence that have defined the soda fountain for generations, making them a meaningful gift that honors both place and community.  

Wrapping It Up 

When members open their gift boxes, they are not receiving mass hand-produced items, but pieces that are familiar and tell local stories. The details behind each box may remain largely unseen, but the connections they represent are an intentional effort by Kling that perfectly plays into this year’s By Design theme.  

-- 

About Tri-State    

Tri-State is a power supply cooperative, operating on a not-for-profit basis, serving electric distribution cooperatives and public power district member-owners in four states. Together with our members, we deliver reliable, affordable and responsible power to more than a million electricity consumers across nearly 200,000 square miles of the West. Visit www.tristate.coop.