New CEO Chosen for Montana’s Electric Cooperatives

Fresh off of an important win in the Montana Legislature, Mark Lambrecht is chosen as the new CEO for the Montana Electric Cooperatives’ Association.

For those who haven't heard, Gary Wiens is retiring after a remarkable career with MECA. Let me just say, also, that I was just in Glasgow, Montana (where Gary grew up) and the Wiens family all around are good folks. So, congrats to Gary on his retirement!

According to a MECA press release, "Gary Wiens, who spent 32 years with MECA – 26 as assistant general manager and the past six as CEO, will retire July 11. The MECA Board and the 25 MECA member electric cooperatives recognize Wiens for his years of dedicated service, congratulate him on an outstanding career and wish him well in retirement."

After a national search, MECA’s board of directors selected Mark Lambrecht of Helena as the organization’s new CEO. For those of us who have followed public policy here in Montana, Mark has been an important voice for hunting and wildlife issues as well as our important natural resource industry.

"Lambrecht, who is MECA’s government relations director, starts as the statewide association’s CEO July 6," according to the press release. "He led MECA’s successful efforts at the past two Montana Legislative Sessions and elevated its stature at the federal level, working closely with the Montana Congressional delegation and federal agencies on issues important to electric cooperatives."

Prior to his tenure with MECA, Lambrecht was an assistant director for the federal Bureau of Land Management under the first Trump Administration. He also previously worked for the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation during his 35 year career in public policy and environmental management.

Mark Lambrecht: "I am very grateful to the MECA board, staff and members for entrusting me to lead the organization to a future of sustained success. I’m fully committed to giving co-ops my best every day to help them meet their obligations to provide safe, affordable and reliable electricity to their members. I also want to express my appreciation for Gary Wiens’ decades of dedicated, excellent service to the organization. It’s an honor for me to have the opportunity to carry on his legacy.

The Montana Electric Cooperatives’ Association (MECA) represents 25 electric distribution cooperatives serving more than 400,000 Montanans, and reaching into four other states.

By the way, one of the legislative victories I referred to at the top of this article is HB 490, which was signed into law by Gov. Greg Gianforte (R-MT). Hear about that and more in our recent chat with Mark Lambrecht on our statewide radio show, Montana Talks with Aaron Flint.