Get to know your Co-op Board President Ed Gullickson

Ed Gullickson joined Polk-Burnett’s board of directors in 2008 and became president in 2009. He also serves on the board for Dairyland Power Cooperative, 2016 to present, and was chair from 2019 to 2021.

Ed said his background in electrical engineering and his desire to “know how things work” drew him to board service for his local utility. His interest and experience in serving his local community also led him to the co-op board. In addition to Polk-Burnett and Dairyland, Ed’s board experience includes the Town of Garfield (31 years), Allied Emergency Services (31 years), Amery Ambulance Service, Wisconsin Towns Association, Polk County and Amery School District.

Ed started his career in electrical engineering at Sperry-Univac in the Twin Cities, where he worked for 12 years on some very exciting and innovative projects, including being part of the design team for the lunar module control panel for the Apollo moon landing program, and working on the first mainframe computers to manage airline reservation systems and banking operations.

Ed also owned an electrical contracting business for 15 years, and today owns Doors of Distinction, a local business that designs, manufactures and sells architectural-grade interior and exterior doors nationwide. The business grew out of a hobby, and combines his love of engineering and woodworking.

Ed said he is “most proud of the tremendous employees at Polk-Burnett today. There is a lot of trust at the co-op, as well as effective communication and adoption of technology to make our work more efficient and deliver extraordinary service. Overall, it’s a good business atmosphere that keeps members first. You can see that in our member survey results.”

Ed believes strong co-op leadership will be important in the coming years. “We need to move in the direction of clean energy, but carbon reduction relies on unproven technology and the timeline to retire fossil-fuel power plants is unrealistic. We need to slow down to keep electricity reliable and affordable,” he said.

Ed and his wife, Joyce, live in Amery, where they enjoy gardening, spending time with their six grandchildren and being involved in the Amery Lions Club.

Learn more about your co-op board of directors.