Wisconsin Energy Cooperative News

What Wisconsin Energy Cooperative News does

Wisconsin Energy Cooperative News (WECN) is a monthly magazine that serves as the official communication vehicle for the Wisconsin Electric Cooperative Association (WECA) and its 24 member-owned rural electric cooperatives. Founded in 1940 as Wisconsin REA News, it was the first publication of its kind for rural electric cooperatives nationally and is now distributed via direct postal mail to 166,500 households each month, reaching an average of 340,000 readers. The publication operates a 32-page magazine format with individualized local co-op sections, complemented by a WordPress-based website (wecnmagazine.com), a Facebook page, and an RSS feed that host current-issue archives, web-exclusive articles, recipes, events, and member features such as the 'Wisconsin Favorites' franchise.

WECN's content covers cooperative governance, energy and safety topics, community stories, and lifestyle pieces relevant to rural Wisconsin households. Editorial production is handled by a small in-house team of approximately seven staff: an Editor, Associate Editor, Director of News and Communication, Editorial Assistant handling recipes/classifieds/events, Graphic Designer, and an Advertising Consultant, operating under the leadership of WECA's President & CEO Rob Richard. The underlying technology stack is conventional — print production plus a standard CMS — with no proprietary platform architecture, AI components, or third-party integrations noted in the available data.

WECN's revenue model is a hybrid of advertising sales and implicit subsidy through WECA membership funding. The magazine is delivered free to cooperative member-owners as part of their cooperative membership, so 'subscription' revenue flows indirectly through WECA's dues structure rather than direct consumer pay. Advertising is the primary disclosed revenue stream, with rates quoted on a per-campaign basis through a media kit handled by the in-house Advertising Consultant. The publication does not publicly disclose rate cards, revenue figures, or advertiser concentration. Its geographic market is exclusively Wisconsin, and its customer base — the 24 member cooperatives and their member-owners — is structurally captive within the cooperative framework.

Name

Wisconsin Energy Cooperative News

Legal name

Wisconsin Energy Cooperative News

Website

https://wecnmagazine.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1940

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cooperative Member Magazine

NAICS

Periodical Publishers (51312), Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers (5131), Periodical Publishers (513120)

SIC

Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)

akta.pro primary industry

News, Politics & Current Affairs Magazines (MPAJAEAO)

akta.pro secondary industries

Community, Ethnic & Multilingual News Publishers (MPAJADAG), Business, Finance & Industry Trade Magazines (MPAJAEAM)

Keywords

• Rural electric cooperative news
• Monthly magazine publication
• Cooperative member content
• Wisconsin community news
• Display advertising services

Headquarters

HQ city

Madison

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Others

Revenue model

1. Magazine Subscription and Distribution: Monthly publication delivered to 166,500 households who are member-owners of Wisconsin's 24 rural electric cooperatives
2. Advertising: The magazine generates revenue through advertising, with advertisers reaching an average of 340,000 readers monthly through display ads and the media kit offering

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Wisconsin Energy Cooperative News publishes a monthly 32-page statewide magazine distributed to 166,500 households (reaching approximately 340,000 readers) who are member-owners of Wisconsin's 24 rural electric cooperatives. The magazine features cooperative news, energy information, community stories, recipes, and Wisconsin-specific content, and also sells display advertising to businesses targeting the rural Wisconsin audience.

Product overview

Wisconsin Energy Cooperative News is a single publication product—a monthly magazine serving as the official publication of the Wisconsin Electric Cooperative Association. The magazine features news articles, features, and recipes content, and offers advertising services. The publication has a circulation of 166,500 copies monthly reaching approximately 340,000 readers who are member-owners of Wisconsin's 24 rural electric cooperatives.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Wisconsin Energy Cooperative News Magazine A monthly statewide 32-page magazine serving as the official voice of Wisconsin's rural electric cooperatives, featuring cooperative news, energy information, community stories, recipes, and Wisconsin-specific content for member-owners of Wisconsin's 24 rural electric cooperatives. Delivered to 166,500 households monthly, reaching approximately 340,000 readers.
• Display Advertising Services

Quantifiable outcome

• 95 percent of respondents trust Wisconsin Energy Cooperative News as a name they trust

Named customers14 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Wisconsin Electric Cooperative Association (WECA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Wisconsin Energy Cooperative News magazine was established in 1940 and is published for the Wisconsin Electric Cooperative Association. WECA is the statewide trade association representing Wisconsin's electric cooperatives, celebrating its 90th anniversary in 2026.
• National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNRECA is the national trade group for electric cooperatives throughout the country. WECA participates in NRECA's annual legislative conference, with close to 30 Wisconsin cooperative leaders traveling to Capitol Hill to advocate on key priorities.
• 24 Wisconsin Electric CooperativescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe magazine serves as communication tool for 24 Wisconsin electric cooperatives including Adams-Columbia, Barron, Bayfield, Central Wisconsin, Chippewa Valley, Clark, Dunn, Eau Claire Energy, East Central, Jackson, Jump River, Oakdale, Oconto, Pierce Pepin, Polk-Burnett, Price, Richland, Riverland, Rock, Scenic Rivers, St. Croix, Taylor, Vernon, and Washington Island.
• Price Electric CooperativeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNorthern Frost Farm operates on Price Electric Cooperative lines, serving as a local business feature in the magazine's Wisconsin Favorites section.
• Eau Claire Energy CooperativeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCurvue Tree Farm + Gardens is owned by an Eau Claire Energy Cooperative member, featured in the magazine's Wisconsin Favorites section.
• Oconto Electric CooperativeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Lavender Homestead is owned by an Oconto Electric Cooperative member, featured in the magazine's Wisconsin Favorites section.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Successful Farming: Successful Farming is a long-established national magazine covering agriculture, rural life, and farm operations. While broader than WECN, it targets a similar rural Midwest audience with overlapping content around rural living, energy, and home topics.
• NRECA (National Rural Electric Cooperative Association): NRECA is the national trade association for rural electric cooperatives across the U.S. While not a magazine publisher itself, it sets the agenda and content framework that WECN and other state co-op publications follow, making it the broader institutional incumbent in this media niche.
• Country Living: Country Living is a national lifestyle magazine focused on rural homes, recipes, and country lifestyle. While national in scope, it shares WECN's mix of recipes, local features, and rural audience orientation, making it a broader incumbent comparable on content themes.

Direct peers

• Carolina Country: Carolina Country is the monthly magazine of North Carolina's electric cooperatives, delivering cooperative news, energy content, and lifestyle features to rural member-owners. It is directly comparable to WECN as a state-level co-op publication with similar content mix, circulation model, and rural audience.
• Tennessee Magazine: Tennessee Magazine is the publication of the Tennessee Electric Cooperative Association, covering cooperative news, travel, recipes, and rural lifestyle content for member-owners. Comparable to WECN in audience, distribution, and content verticals.
• Texas Co-op Power: Texas Co-op Power is the monthly magazine of Texas electric cooperatives, serving member-owners across Texas with cooperative news, recipes, and features. It is the most directly comparable peer to Wisconsin Energy Cooperative News in format, audience, and mission — both are official state-level electric cooperative publications funded through cooperative distribution.
• Rural Missouri: Rural Missouri is published by the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives and serves member-owners with statewide cooperative news, features, and lifestyle content. It mirrors WECN's role as the voice of a state's rural electric cooperative ecosystem.
• Kansas Country Living: Kansas Country Living is the monthly magazine of the Kansas Electric Cooperatives, Inc., serving rural co-op members with news and features. Directly comparable to WECN's content mix and member-funded distribution model.

Regional players

• Wisconsin State Farmer: Wisconsin State Farmer is a regional agricultural publication serving Wisconsin's farming community. While its core focus is agriculture rather than electric cooperatives, it overlaps with WECN's rural Wisconsin audience, content around rural life, and advertising base.

Emerging players

• Edible Madison / Edible Wisconsin: Edible Madison is a regional food and drink magazine focused on Wisconsin's local food scene, including recipes, farms, and producers. It overlaps with WECN's recipes and Wisconsin Favorites features and competes for Wisconsin-based food/lifestyle advertising dollars.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/WECNmagazine

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Wisconsin Energy Cooperative News