Howard Scarboro, retired CEO of Central Virginia Electric Cooperative, received the 2023 Cooperative Leadership Award from the Virginia, Maryland & Delaware Association of Electric Cooperatives. Scarboro was presented with the Association’s highest honor during the VMDAEC’s 79th Annual Meeting that was held July 23-25 at Lansdowne Resort in Leesburg, Va.
Scarboro was recognized for his creative, dynamic and forward-thinking leadership during his 16-year tenure with the co-op. CVEC Director Roberta Harlowe praised Scarboro’s efforts to improve workflow efficiency and implement new technologies, such as the outage management system that greatly benefitted members.
Amongst his many accomplishments as CEO, Scarboro oversaw the design and construction of CVEC’s state-of-the art headquarters located in Arrington, Va., and designed the Cooperative’s logo, which is still in use today. In 2003, Scarboro, with his team, created the Gaff-n-Go Rodeo, which is now headed by the VMDAEC and is one of the largest and most successful lineworker rodeos in the country.
From left, CVEC President and CEO Gary Wood speaking on Howard’s accomplishments during the ceremony.
Most notably, Scarboro left an operating subsidiary in place when he retired in 2007. The subsidiary was reopened in 2018 as part of the Cooperative’s rural broadband project and now operates as Firefly Fiber Broadband, which offers affordable and reliable high-speed internet throughout Central Virginia. “To take on the breadth of things he did in the time he was there is part of what makes him such an outstanding leader,” says Gary Wood, current CVEC President and CEO.
–Report by Melissa Gay, Vice-President of Communications and Member Services, Central Virginia Electric Cooperative.