ROBERT BLEDSOE
(District No. 1 – The First Commissioner District of Yuma County, Colorado)
Robert E. (Bob) Bledsoe is running for his tenth term on the Y-W Board of Directors. His director district is commensurate with Y-W’s service territory in Yuma County Original Commissioner District #1.
Bob is a 1965 graduate of Wray High School. He received a bachelor of science degree in animal science from CSU in 1969. Bob served in the U.S. Army from 1969 to 1971.
Bob and his wife, Becky, have two adult children, Ann Soehner and Grant Bledsoe, and five grandchildren. Bob and Becky head several family production partnerships that farm, ranch, and feed cattle in the Wray area. Bob is past-president of the Colorado Cattle Feeders Association, past-chief of the Wray Fire Department, and past-director of the Yuma County Fire Protection District. As a hobby, Bob enjoys hunting dinosaurs.
ROGER SCHENK
(District No. 4 – The First Commissioner District of Washington County, Colorado)
Roger Schenk is running for his fourth term as a director for Y-W Electric Association. He has served as Treasurer, Vice President, and was President of the Board from 2018 to 2022. Beginning in May 2019, he began representing Y-W on the Tri-State Board of Directors. At Tri-State he has served on the External Affairs Committee, the Contract Committee, and the Rate Design Committee. He is currently a member of the Finance and Audit Committee, serving as Chairperson since June 2023. His director district #4 is commensurate with Y-W’s service territory in Washington County First Commissioner District #4.
He has completed the Credentialed Cooperative Director Program, the Board Leadership Program, and the Director Gold Certification Program offered through NRECA and has served as the voting delegate for the CREA, Tri-State, and Mid-West Electric Consumers annual meetings.
Roger lives and farms south of Akron with his wife Diane and is a third-generation farmer. Their son Brandon is employed full time with Godsey Precision Ag and is also involved in the farming operation. Roger has been farming since graduating from NJC in 1983 with an Associates of Arts Degree in Farm & Ranch Management. Their dryland farming operation consists of a crop rotation of wheat, millet, and corn and is managed through no-till and reduced tillage practices.
In 2023 he began serving as an Advisory Committee member to the NoCo Foundation Eastern Colorado. This Foundation provides community foundation services to Logan, Morgan, Phillips, Sedgwick, Washington, and Yuma County Communities. Other boards he has served on include the Akron Soil Conservation District, Washington County Cattlemen, Colorado Young Farmers State Officer Team, Presbyterian Church, and the Yuma M&M Coop.
STUART TRAVIS
(District No. 8 – Town of Akron, Colorado)
Stuart Travis represents Y-W district #8 with the Town of Akron. Stuart spent several years immersing himself in learning the cooperative business model and continues to learn the electric distribution business.
Stuart has lived in Akron since 1962. Five generations of Stuart’s family have called Washington County home. He graduated from Akron High School in 1979, and graduated Summa Cum Laude from Regis University. Stuart and his wife, Laurie, have two children, Alison and Erik. Alison is a Senior Project Manager with Amazon and Erik is a Commercial/Industrial Electrician, partnering with an electrical firm in Bozeman, Montana.
Stuart was elected to serve on the Colorado Rural Electric Association Board of Directors. CREA concerns itself with state and national legislative issues that affect co-ops and spends much time outside of the board room working on these issues. Stuart is a strong voice for Y-W on the CREA board. Currently, there are more issues that could adversely affect the co-ops than at any other time in history. Stuart is actively involved in minimizing their impact.
Stuart was elected to serve on the Board of Mid-West Electric Consumers. Mid-West concerns itself with preference power generated on the Missouri River Drainage Basin.
Stuart has received his CCD, Board Leadership Certificate, and Director Gold certifications from the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. Stuart, along with the rest of the Y-W Board of Directors, works hard at keeping rates as low as possible.
