empower, Delivered by Craighead Electric

06/18/2026

Congratulations to Tyler Mitchener, the inaugural recipient of the Keith Blocker Memorial Scholarship!

Today was a meaningful and emotional milestone as we awarded the first-ever Keith Blocker Memorial Scholarship, a $9,000 scholarship established to honor the life, legacy, and lasting impact of Keith Blocker.

Keith dedicated more than 35 years of service to Craighead Electric, helping shape the reliable infrastructure that serves our members today. Through his engineering expertise, leadership, and passion for innovation and service, Keith left an imprint on this cooperative and the communities we serve that will be felt for generations.

It was especially meaningful to celebrate this moment alongside Keith's family, including his wife, Joan, his daughters and their families. Their presence served as a reminder that while Keith's professional accomplishments were extraordinary, the relationships he built and the lives he touched were equally significant.

We are proud to support Tyler as he pursues a degree in mechanical engineering. His academic achievements, initiative, and commitment to engineering embody the qualities that defined Keith's career and legacy.

This scholarship is funded by the Blocker Family, along with Co-op Cares, a nonprofit organization that reflects Craighead Electric and Empower Broadband's commitment to powering opportunity through electricity, connectivity, and education.

Please join us in congratulating Tyler and wishing him continued success as he begins this next chapter. We are honored that the Keith Blocker Memorial Scholarship will continue inspiring future engineers and carrying forward a legacy that means so much to our cooperative family.

06/17/2026

Sometimes moving forward starts with changing your perspective. 👀

At Empower, we're here to help you take the next step. 👉 empowerbroadband.com

06/14/2026

5:30pm Update: All major repairs have been completed, and service has been restored across the affected area. At this time, all customers should be back online.✅🙌

If you are still experiencing issues with your connection, please contact our technical support team so we can investigate your individual service.

We appreciate your patience and understanding throughout today’s outage. Thank you for allowing our crews the time needed to safely complete these complex fiber repairs.🫶

We know many of you have been without internet service much longer than expected today, and we understand how frustrating that is. Our crews have identified an issue during the fiber restoration process that required additional troubleshooting and repairs.

Unlike electric outages, where damage is often easier to locate and isolate, fiber repairs can be much more complex. A single damaged fiber cable may contain hundreds of individual fiber strands that must be carefully identified, spliced, and tested before service can be restored. In some cases, issues aren’t discovered until repairs are already underway, which can extend restoration times.

Based on the latest information from our crews in the field, we expect customers to begin coming back online over the next hour as critical feeder fibers are completed and tested.

We sincerely apologize for the extended outage and appreciate your patience as our crews work to safely and correctly restore service to everyone affected. We will continue to provide updates as progress is made.

Thank you for hanging in there with us.💛💙

06/14/2026

Scattered storms moving through our service territory this afternoon have caused several outages across the Craighead Electric and Empower Broadband systems.

Our crews are actively responding and working to safely restore service as quickly as possible. In at least one location, a utility pole was brought down by the storm, impacting both electric and fiber infrastructure.

While electric service can often be restored before all repairs are completed, fiber restoration may take additional time in areas where damage to broadband infrastructure has occurred.

We appreciate your patience as our crews work through multiple outage locations. Please remember to stay away from any downed power lines and report outages through SmartHub, by texting OUT to 85700, or by calling our outage line. Empower customers can report service issues by contacting technical support.

We’ll continue to provide updates as information becomes available. You can check our power outage map online 24/7 at https://outagecraigheadelectriccoop.ecark.org/.

06/13/2026

After years of dealing with slow, unreliable internet, the Duncan family made the switch to Empower. Hear from Tanner Duncan about why they made the change and why you should too. ⚡️

👉 empowerbroadband.com

06/08/2026

Did we just become best friends? 🤜 🤛

At Empower, we know a little support can go a long way. Happy National Best Friends Day! 🎉

06/03/2026

The trophies are nice, but the bragging rights are even better. 😄

Employees from Craighead Electric and Empower recently joined businesses from across Northeast Arkansas for the Community Health Education Foundation's Corporate Olympics. From volleyball and basketball to giant Jenga and trivia - and everything in between, it was a great day of teamwork, laughter, and friendly competition!

We're proud to support organizations that help create a healthier, stronger community, and we're thankful for the employees who participated and represented our companies so well.

💚 Thank you to the Community Health Education Foundation for hosting another great event and for the impact you make throughout Northeast Arkansas.

06/03/2026

If you see us rolling through town, try not to stare! 😉

👉 empowerbroadband.com

05/31/2026

Make time for the small things. 🌅

Connect faster. Live slower. ⚡️

👉 empowerbroadband.com

05/29/2026

Being recognized in the Best of NEA awards is an honor, and we're proud to provide fast, reliable internet that helps keep Northeast Arkansas connected every day. ⚡

Thank you for choosing Empower and allowing us to serve the communities we call home. 👏

Congrats to empower, Delivered by Craighead Electric for winning silver in best Internet service provider!