Daryl Jones of Linden and William Rankin of Faunsdale were elected to the Alabama Rural Electric Association of Cooperatives’ Board of Directors on April 11 during the association’s 66th meeting in Montgomery.

Jones, general manager of Black Warrior Electric Membership Corp., will serve on the executive, risk management and regulatory compliance, and strategic planning committees. Rankin will serve on the association’s governance and public relations committee.

AREA’s board also elected Pasty Holmes of Central Alabama Electric Cooperative in Prattville as chairman; Randy Brannon of Pea River Electric Cooperative in Ozark as vice-chairman; and David Hembree of Cullman Electric Cooperative in Cullman as secretary-treasurer.

The annual meeting, held April 10-11 in Montgomery, attracted more than 400 electric cooperative leaders and supporters from across the state.

During the meeting, 39 co-op directors from 10 Alabama cooperatives were recognized for completing Advanced Board Leadership Certificates.

In other recognition, Cary Hatcher of Wiregrass Electric Cooperative received the 2013 Darryl Gates Communicator of the Year award, named for AREA’s longtime vice president of communications who passed away in 2012.

WTVY-TV and WDHN-TV of Dothan each received the 2013 Award for Media Excellence for their well-rounded, balanced and unbiased coverage of electric cooperative activities.

The Alabama Rural Electric Association of Cooperatives is a federation of not-for-profit electric cooperatives, which provide dependable electricity to more than one million Alabamians in 64 counties.