CEO’s Report: Strategic Plan unveiled

Heartland Energy launched a strategic planning initiative back in March. With the help of a consultant, we sought to identify our company’s purpose through the development of long-term goals that would define accomplishment of our mission.

We sought counsel from Mark McCain, executive consultant/strategic planning for Hometown Connections, Inc. (HCI). As a former long-time public power employee and expert in strategic planning, he understood our unique circumstances and effectively guided us through the process.

The overall objectives of the strategic plan included defining a compelling purpose for the organization, identifying the most important strategies for success and unleashing our team’s talent on what matters most.

We announced the completed plan at our Summer Conference on July 30.

The process

We worked through a 4-phase process to complete our strategic plan, starting with staff brainstorming potential goals and strategies through an online survey developed by McCain. The survey allowed staff to provide input on what they felt Heartland’s priorities should be as well as what the company’s greatest strengths as well as weaknesses are.

McCain also reached out to a sampling of board members and customers to get their feedback.

From there, all stakeholders had the opportunity to provide input through a ranking survey. Individuals could rank which goals they felt were most important to the overall success of the company and our customers.

This survey proved to be invaluable as McCain broke down which groups of stakeholders – board members, customers and staff – found which goals most important. It was incredibly helpful to see each group’s perspective as we laid out plans for the future.

Utilizing that feedback, staff created a shortlist of goals and strategies, then we held a two-day workshop with the board of directors where we finalized the plan.

The plan

The first step in establishing our plan was to review our mission and vision statements. Overall, we felt these still rang true, so only made minor adjustments.

We established four goals, each of which fall under an operational arm of the company.

Under each goal, strategies were developed to outline activities required to achieve the objectives.

Finances

1. Control costs and revenues where possible and maintain adequate reserves.
2. Maintain strong credit ratings.
3. Reduce annual debt service requirements when prudent and possible.

Operations

1. Proactively work to retain all customers.
2. Foster economic development initiatives with current customers that stimulate growth, increase electric loads and promote beneficial electrification.
3. Evaluate new capacity and energy resources that provide mutual benefits for Heartland Energy and its customers.
4. Evaluate options for reducing operational risk exposures by implementing Heartland Energy’s Integrated Resource Plan findings.
5. Explore diversifying the customer base by targeting potential new customers.

Services

1. Evaluate and prioritize customer service programs based on their effectiveness, customer demand, and cost-benefit analysis.
2. Explore opportunities for shared services among customers.
3. Enhance communication and Heartland Energy’s presence in customer communities.
4. Provide and promote education and training to customers.
5. Encourage ongoing education and training for staff to further develop expertise to best aid customers.
6. Explore funding opportunities for improvement projects to be incorporated in line with the Integrated Resource Plan.

Advocacy and Innovation

1. Actively participate in marketplace stakeholder groups to optimize operations and strategic decision-making.
2. Stay abreast of and assist customers in exploring emerging industry trends, regulatory mandates, and technology advancements.
3. Engage in collaborative efforts with industry associations and peer organizations to address common challenges.
4. Proactively build relationships with local, state and federal officials.

Next steps

With any strategic plan, all of the time and work put into it isn’t worth anything if there isn’t an action plan to ensure implementation.

Next steps include developing plans for each strategy, including timelines and milestones. We will assign responsibilities for each strategy and determine if there will be any budget implications.

We will monitor progress of each goal and report to our board of directors at determined intervals. This will ensure effective implementation.

As with any plan, we make adjustments as needed.

Developing the plan was a good exercise in teamwork and gives us a clear path forward. We look forward to monitoring our progress to ensure successful implementation of the plan.