Border States Electric Honored as Freedom Award Semifinalist

July 10, 2014

Border States Electric (BSE) was recognized as a semifinalist for the Department of Defense (DOD) Freedom Award June 25. The Freedom Award is the DOD’s highest honor for employers that provide extraordinary support to their Guard and Reserve employees.

Employers are nominated by their employees who are Guard or Reserve members. There were 162 semifinalists out of 2,864 nominations. Fifteen Freedom Awards are presented each year to employers in three categories: large business, small business and the public sector.

“Being a semifinalist for the Freedom Award, the highest honor the Department of Defense bestows on an employer of a Guard or Reserve member, is a testament to our support for those who serve in the military,” said Tammy Miller, CEO. “We encourage everyone to find ways to give back; the employee-owners who serve in the Guard and Reserve give back to this country in such an enormous and important way to protect our freedom. It’s not a sacrifice for us to be flexible with these employee-owners; it’s an honor.”

In 2013, three BSE employee-owners received the Patriot Award, and BSE as a whole received the Above and Beyond Award. At that time, BSE CEO Tammy Miller signed a Corporate Level Statement of Support as a confirmation of BSE’s commitment to the employee-owners who serve in the military.

BSE supplies products and services to construction, industrial and utility customers. The 100 percent employee-owned company is the eighth largest electrical distributor, as rated by Electrical Wholesaling, in the U.S. with about 1,600 employees and 63 branches in 14 states. Corporate headquarters are located in Fargo, N.D. BSE has been a Member of Affiliated Distributors since 1985.

Blog submitted by Tom Nelson, tnelson@borderstates.com