Associated Electric Board of Directors

Geisendorfer joined Associated Electric’s board of directors in spring 2004. He has served on Northeast Missouri Electric Power Cooperative’s board since 1996, holding the office of president since 2004, and on the board of his local cooperative, Lewis County Rural Electric Cooperative, since 1994, holding the office of president since 2001.

Geisendorfer co-owns and operates a cattle farm and is actively involved in his industry. A lifetime member of the Missouri Cattlemen's Association, he is active in local cattlemen's functions and in his community through church and civic organizations.

A lifetime farmer in northwest Missouri, Killgore has served on the board of his distribution cooperative, United Electric Cooperative, since 1986. He has represented United on the board of NW Electric Power Cooperative Inc. since 2001. NW Electric elected him to serve on the board of Associated Electric in June 2009, and he currently serves as vice president.

Killgore and his family run Killgore Farms Inc., a 1,000-acre operation in Stewartsville, Mo., that includes row crops, cattle and hogs. He is active in his community and church and has served on the local school board, booster club and currently serves on the Clinton County R-3 Educational Foundation.

John R. Bledsoe brings more than 20 years’ experience in cooperative governance to the board of directors at Associated. He was elected to represent M&A Electric Power Cooperative on Associated’s board at the annual meeting, June 19, 2019, and serves as treasurer on Associated’s board.

John joined the board of his local cooperative, SEMO Electric Cooperative, in 1998 and serves as vice president.

In 2008, he was elected to serve on M&A’s board, where he also serves as vice president.

John and his family reside in Charleston, Missouri, and he has served on various nonprofit boards of directors, including his local school board. He earned his degree from Southeast Missouri State University and is retired from UPS.

A retired educator, Culwell joined Associated’s board in May 2022, bringing experience from representing members on the board of KAMO Power since 2012. At KAMO, he serves as vice president of the board. Previously, he served as KAMO’s board secretary and chairman of its Technology Advisory Committee. A board member of his local cooperative, Kiamichi Electric Cooperative, since 1998, he also holds a Director Gold Cooperative Certification from National Rural Electric Cooperative. He also serves as KAMO's representative to the Oklahoma Association of Electric Cooperatives.

Culwell has a cow/calf operation, but his career has been in education. He has a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and physics, master’s degree in counseling/administration, and achieved a 30-year career as a teacher, administrator and superintendent of schools. He also serves on the Kiamichi Technology Center Board of Education.

Aeilts joined Associated Electric's board in 2004 after becoming general manager of Northeast Missouri Electric Power Cooperative in Palmyra, Mo. Previously, he worked for Adams Electric Cooperative in Camp Point, Ill. He joined that cooperative in 1981 as an energy counselor, eventually becoming general manager in 1994 and serving 10 years in that position.

Aeilts holds a bachelor's degree in agricultural engineering from the University of Illinois and is a licensed professional engineer.

Hilmes joined Associated’s board of directors in January 2019, following his selection as executive vice president and chief executive officer of KAMO Power. His 25 years' experience with cooperatives includes 17 years as chief operations officer at KAMO, where he was instrumental in significant expansion and improvement of the high-voltage transmission system and building relationships with neighboring utilities; five years as a planning engineer at Associated Electric Cooperative; and three years as manager of engineering at Southern Illinois Power Cooperative.

He holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering and is a member of the Missouri Science & Technology Academy of Electrical & Computer Engineering.

Marhsall joined Associated Electric's board of directors in January 2024, bringing a proven track record of developing and managing electric transmission systems and wealth of experience and expertise.

Marshall, who was named Sho-Me's general manager in November 2023, came to Sho-Me from Wabash Valley Power Alliance where he previously served as the executive vice president, risk, compliance and regulatory affairs. He has extensive experience in the energy industry working for a generation and transmission cooperative, regional transmission organization, energy risk management firm, and an investor-owned utility. 

Marshall has a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, a master’s in electrical engineering from Clemson University and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Indianapolis.

McDowell was named CEO of NW Electric Power Cooperative in fall 2014 and joined Associated's board of directors in November 2014.

He has 21 years of diverse utility management and business operations experience. McDowell joined NW Electric Power Cooperative in 1998 and served as its director of operations. Since, he has worked closely with NW's distribution cooperative owners, other G&Ts, Associated, the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives and the National Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives. He holds degrees in electrical and mechanical engineering, a master's degree in business administration and is a licensed professional engineer in Missouri.

Singletary has been the CEO and manager of Howell-Oregon Electric Cooperative Inc. since 1994, when he also joined the board of Sho-Me Power Electric Cooperative. He was elected to Associated Electric’s board in October 2008.

Singletary also serves on the boards of the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives and the Missouri Electric Cooperatives Insurance Plan. He is actively involved in his community as a member of various civic organizations, including the board of the West Plains Economic Development Corp., the advisory committee of the Ozarks Medical Center and as president of the Ozarks Development Corp. Marketing and Development Committee.

Singletary earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration and computer science from the School of the Ozarks (now the College of the Ozarks), where he also played varsity baseball on scholarship.

Sorrell joined Associated Electric’s board of directors in January 2012 after being named general manager of M&A Electric Power Cooperative. Sorrell, who was born and raised in Doniphan, was the cooperative’s manager of finance before being named general manager.

He is a graduate of Southwest Missouri State University (now Missouri State University) where he received a degree in accounting. A certified public accountant, he has more than 20 years’ experience in various finance and managerial positions. He joined M&A Electric as general accountant in 2006.

Lynn N. Thompson joined Associated's board in 2024 after being elected to represent the Central Electric Power Cooperative G&T. He began his cooperative career in 1995 with Golden Valley Electric Cooperative in Fairbanks, Alaska, where he started as a temporary laborer in a coal plant. From there, he worked in the generation division in various positions culminating in the position of senior vice president of power supply and transmission.

In April 2018, Lynn moved back to his home state of Missouri where he currently is CEO and general manager of Consolidated Electric. He also serves on the board of the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives and the board of the Missouri Cooperative Insurance Plan. Lynn earned his bachelor’s degree in industrial occupations from Northeast Missouri State University (now Truman State University).

Turner joined Central Electric Power Cooperative in July 2015, bringing 32 years of experience in the electric utility industry, including various leadership positions in transmission and distribution construction, energy trading, bulk power operations, resource planning and compliance with national reliability standards. Just prior to joining Central Electric, Turner was CEO of the Southwestern Power Administration.

He holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from The Citadel, a master's degree in business administration from Georgia State and is a licensed professional engineer.