Gibson Electric and Gibson Connect President and CEO Dan Rodamaker announced SmartTown at the Gibson Electric Membership Corporation’s 88^th Annual Members’ Meeting held Thursday, March 20, at Lara Kendall Elementary School in Lake County.

During the business meeting, Rodamaker shared the cooperative’s plans to launch SmartTown, community-wide managed Wi-Fi, through Gibson Connect. SmartTown provides Gibson Connect subscribers with seamless connectivity in public spaces. It can also play a pivotal role during emergencies, providing connectivity when other modes of communication have failed.

“SmartTown is another way we can strengthen our impact in our communities,” Rodamaker said. “While our Gibson Connect subscribers will benefit on the go, SmartTown is especially useful for first responders working in our rural areas. We’re excited to announce more about SmartTown soon.”

Rodamaker also touted the security Gibson Connect provides subscribers, noting that Gibson Protect IQ, a free service included with all residential subscriptions, protected subscribers from 2.7 million web threats, intrusions, viruses and malware.

“We take our responsibility to provide you and your family with safe and reliable electric and internet service seriously,” he said. “Safety will always be our top priority.”

Rodamaker shared with members that the cooperative upgraded transformers at its Polk substation in 2024 and added second transformers at its Ridgely and Pierce substations.

“With redundant transformers now in place at each of our substations, we’ve significantly increased service reliability for our members,” he explained.

The annual meeting also included live entertainment, giveaways and food. Members were treated to complimentary barbecue sandwiches and hot dogs catered by Big Daddy’s Meat Wagon in Ridgely and music from the award-winning High Road band. Members received a bucket, light bulbs and a tape measure at registration and picked up other giveaways at the event booths. Several lucky winners received Gibson Electric and Gibson Connect bill credits, gift cards, tumblers and more.

After the annual meeting adjourned, the Gibson Electric and Gibson Connect board met and re-elected officers.

Gibson Electric is a local, not-for-profit, member-owned and member-controlled electric cooperative serving more than 39,000 homes and businesses in eight West Tennessee counties (Crockett, Dyer, Gibson, Haywood, Lake, Madison, Obion and Weakley) and four Western Kentucky counties (Carlisle, Fulton, Graves and Hickman). Gibson Connect is a wholly-owned, not-for-profit subsidiary of Gibson Electric, working to provide high-speed, fiber-based broadband service access to all the cooperative’s eligible members.