Umatilla Electric Cooperative Intranet

Overview

Uniting a Cooperative Workforce

Umatilla Electric Cooperative (UEC) is a member-owned electric cooperative serving more than 11,000 members across Northeastern Oregon, supported by a workforce of 128 employees who keep essential services running throughout the Columbia Basin and Blue Mountain region. After partnering with Powerful to redesign their public-facing website, UEC saw an opportunity to bring the same clarity, care, and connection to their internal communications.

With employees spread across departments, offices, and service districts, staying informed and aligned plays a direct role in how well UEC can serve its community. UEC partnered with Powerful to create its very first intranet with four clear intentions: increase engagement, make navigation intuitive, encourage the use of online tools, and ensure employees always have access to current, relevant information. The intranet was envisioned as a shared home base for the organization, one that reflects who UEC is and supports the people behind the cooperative’s mission to improve quality of life in the communities it serves.

A Central Place to Stay Informed

As UEC prepared to launch its first intranet, the goal was to create a place employees would actually return to throughout the day. The team wanted a space that felt welcoming, immediately useful, and easy to navigate, while also making it simple to stay up to date on internal news, events, and shared wins. With no legacy intranet to work around, there was room to thoughtfully design an experience that works for both first-time visitors and long-time employees.

Powerful and UEC collaborated on a premium design tailored to how UEC employees work and what they need most often. The homepage greets visitors with a prominent, front-and-center search bar paired with the friendly tagline, “We make it easy to find what you’re looking for.” That promise is reinforced with top search suggestions and bold call-to-action buttons linking directly to anticipated tasks such as the employee directory, time entry, and organizational resources.

To keep content fresh and relevant, UEC uses Powerful’s News Releases app and Calendar and Events app. These tools allow staff to publish timely updates, highlight milestones, and share important announcements across the organization. Employee shoutout posts are featured alongside other internal news, giving team members a moment in the spotlight and reinforcing a culture of appreciation. The Events and Meetings section displays board meetings, professional development days, and internal gatherings in a clean, visual layout that makes it easy to see what’s coming up and where.

The intranet feels active, human, and useful from the first visit. Employees can quickly see what’s new, who’s being recognized, and what’s happening next. The search-first homepage, top task buttons, and clear navigation reduce friction and save time, which supports higher adoption across departments. Together, these features create a steady rhythm of communication that strengthens alignment and helps employees feel connected to the broader mission of serving UEC’s members.

Tools That Support Collaboration & Connection

With 128 employees working across multiple departments and office locations, UEC wanted an easier way for staff to find and contact one another and to rely less on manual workarounds like phone lists or outdated documents. At the same time, moving internal tools and employee information online meant security had to be treated as a core requirement.

UEC uses Powerful’s Staff Directory app to power the Employee Directory page. Visitors can search by name and immediately see a profile card that includes each employee’s photo, title, department, office location, phone number, and email address. The inclusion of images adds a personable touch and helps newer employees put faces to names.

If someone on the Engineering team needs to reach Human Resources, the directory makes it a simple search instead of a multi-step process. Information is presented clearly and consistently, making it easy to scan and act on.

To protect employee information and internal activity, UEC opted into Powerful’s premium website security and monitoring for their intranet. This includes safeguards such as two-factor authentication for logins, live traffic monitoring, automatic blocking of suspicious activity, and regular security audits.

The directory strengthens connection across departments and supports faster, more confident communication. Employees can reach the right person without guesswork, which encourages collaboration and shared problem-solving.

The added security creates a strong foundation of trust. Employees can use the intranet knowing their information is handled responsibly, and UEC can confidently expand internal tools and rely more heavily on digital workflows over time.