Howard Scarboro, retired CEO of Central Virginia Electric Cooperative (CVEC) received the 2023 Cooperative Leadership Award from the Virginia, Maryland, & Delaware Association of Electric Cooperatives (VMDAEC). Scarboro was presented with the Association’s highest honor during the VMDAEC’s 79th Annual Meeting that was held July 23 to 25 at Lansdowne Resort in Leesburg, VA.
Mr. Scarboro was recognized for his creative, dynamic, and forward-thinking leadership during his 16-year tenure with CVEC. Roberta Harlowe, CVEC Director, praised Mr. Scarboro’s efforts to improve workflow efficiency and implement new technologies, such as the outage management system to benefit the members.
Amongst his many accomplishments as CEO, Mr. Scarboro oversaw the design and construction of CVEC’s state-of-the art Headquarters office located in Arrington, VA, and designed the Cooperative’s logo, which is still in use today. In 2003, Mr. 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 lineman rodeos in the country.
Most notably, Mr. 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 BroadbandSM, 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,” said Gary Wood, CVEC’s current President & CEO.
