In 1938, three Grand Traverse men were on a mission.

President Roosevelt had just promised to bring electricity to farmers and others living in rural areas, and Max Goin, Frank Burkhart and Eino Lehto were committed to making it happen in northern Michigan.

So they spent a year gathering the information they needed, formed a co-op and submitted a loan application to build a substation and 300 miles of line.

The first lines were energized on May 25, 1939, and 60 people in rural Grand Traverse could now refrigerate their food and more efficiently do their farm chores. Cherryland was in business.

Today, Cherryland is in six counties—Leelanau, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Kalkaska, Wexford and Manistee—and we have 35,000 members. We’re a community cooperative, and we’re dedicated to serving our members now and in the future.