Mason PUD 1 Receives National and Regional Recognition for Communications

 

POTLATCH, WA- Mason County PUD No. 1 was honored this fall with four awards for excellence in communications. The District received a first place honor from the Northwest Public Power Association (NWPPA) in the Group A (less than 10,000 customers) wildcard category for their Dam Proud shirts, as well as a second place finish for the PUD newsletter “The Connector”, and a third place finish for the Community Solar II advertising campaign. NWPPA reported that they received a record setting 200 entries in 2020. The top three entries in each category are honored, broken out by utility size.
The American Public Power Association also handed down 42 top communications honors selected from their national membership. Mason PUD 1 was bestowed with an Award of Merit for “The Connector” in the category of utilities with operating revenues of $75 million or less. “This national recognition for our newsletter is really fantastic and marks the first time we have been honored by APPA for our communications efforts. To put it into perspective, we are competing with other member utilities all across the United States, many of whom have large budgets and entire communications departments.
We have an $11 million operating budget and all 25 of us at the PUD serve as communicators,” stated Kristin Masteller, PUD 1’s general manager. “Communications is a core value at PUD 1 and we work really hard to improve upon it internally and every time we engage with our customers.”
 
The awards for both NWPPA and APPA were presented at their virtual communications conferences earlier this fall.