Sunflower’s Nikki Pfannenstiel was presented with the National Rural Economic Development Association (NREDA) 2024 Rural Economic Development Leadership Award for outstanding leadership in the field of rural economic development.
Nominees consist of economic development professionals, rural electric cooperative/rural telephone staff or board members who demonstrated outstanding leadership in an economic development project resulting in the improvement of the quality of life, creation of new jobs, and opportunity for growth and development in rural America.
Pfannenstiel was nominated by Clare Gustin, a past president of NREDA. The award was presented at the association’s 2024 NREDA Annual Conference in Omaha, Nebraska.
Pfannenstiel noted, “It is an honor to be nominated, but an even greater honor to be selected as this year’s NREDA award winner. To be selected by my peers in this industry who are also doing amazing things for rural America makes this honor even more rewarding. I get to work with the best team at Sunflower and amazing partners in the industry, which makes bringing home this award possible.”
Dennis Mingyar, NREDA awards chairperson, noted the following highlights related to Pfannenstiel’s nomination and selection as this year’s recipient:
“Early in Nikki’s career at Sunflower she was responsible for packaging USDA REDLG applications on behalf of the cooperatives that own Sunflower. These projects ranged from public purposes and business development, resulting in improved medical care, public safety equipment, community facilities, and private business expansion for job creation. Her efforts resulted in the creation of revolving loan funds for four of the cooperatives. Her work resulted in 36 projects supporting $60 million in capital investment and 264 jobs.
As the manager of economic development, Nikki is responsible for the Sunflower Electric Economic Development (SEED) program, which provides comprehensive rural development support in the Sunflower member region. The SEED program supports strong local community readiness and global efforts to market the region. As the program matured, Nikki recognized the need to market the region and spearheaded the SEED brand and identity – Sunflower Electric Economic Development, Energy to Grow. The creation of the SEED website, which required creating content for both business consultants and community leaders, is promoted on Sunflower’s SEED LinkedIn page, which now has 864 followers.
Nikki was instrumental in developing the first utility Certified Site Program in Kansas. Soon after the Sunflower Certified Site Program was launched, the Kansas Department of Commerce asked if it could partner with Sunflower for the statewide program. This cooperation has resulted in the Sunflower sites having dual certification with Kansas Department of Commerce. One site has also leveraged the Sunflower certification into a railroad certification.
These are just a few ways Nikki continues to improve the quality of life, support new job creation, and foster growth and development in rural America.”
Congratulations, Nikki! This is a well-deserved honor and recognition of your dedication to our member-utilities and their communities.