News Archives

60th Anniversary Event, Forum speaker: Daniel Côte, Professor of Strategy, HEC Montreal. "From an identity crisis to a new cooperative paradigm: what is the future for co-operatives?"

Sandfort, Scherler Awarded Cooperative Communicators Association Fellowships (6/3/04)
The Raymond Crouch Memorial Fellowship, funded by a grant from The Cooperative Foundation, will provide Cooperative Communicators Association (CCA) members Melissa Sandfort and Christi Scherler with financial assistance to attend the association's 2004 annual Institute in Louisville, Ky. The fellowship is named in honor of Raymond Crouch, a longtime CCA supporter and active member who passed away in 2002. Through the Fellowship program, CCA is able to send deserving members to the Institute who otherwise could not afford to attend.

Sandfort is an account executive at NKH&W in Kansas City, Mo. Her duties include assisting with the writing and creation of news releases, feature stories, testimonials and other collateral material for the advertising agency's two agricultural clients. Formerly with Dairy Farmers of America, she has been a member of CCA for three years.

"CCA is an organization that assists communicators both personally and professionally, providing them with the tools needed to be successful in this business we call life," she said. "I am truly thankful to receive this opportunity and will carry on the tradition of excellence set forth by Raymond Crouch, who was my mentor and friend."

Scherler has been a member of CCA for two years. She is a communications coordinator for Producers Cooperative Association in Bryan, Texas. Her responsibilities include producing newsletters and annual reports, organizing a weekly television segment and publicizing special events.

"I'm extremely grateful for the opportunity afforded me to attend and participate in this year's Institute. This is my first time to submit a CCA contest entry and attend the Institute," she said. "I have a lot to gain personally and professionally by meeting seasoned professionals who have been where I am now."

This article is published with permission from Lynette Cockerell, Cooperative Communicators Association (CCA) Fellowship Committee chair. It was originally published in the June 2004 CCA newsletter.

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Cooperative Innovation: 7th Annual Farmer Cooperatives Conference (5/27/04)
Cooperatives are not generally thought of as entrepreneurial organizations and yet, today many are at the forefront of agribusiness innovation. Cooperatives are being created in the renewable energy and other sectors to help farmers capture the full rewards of new market opportunities. Some existing cooperatives have modified their financial and ownership structures in order to remain competitive in today's global marketplace while continuing to meet the needs of their diverse memberships. Recent changes in state laws allow unprecedented prospects for the evolution of the cooperative model.

The 7th Annual Farmer Cooperatives Conference: Cooperative Innovation, in Kansas City, Mo., will highlight the innovative activities of our agricultural cooperatives. Cooperative leaders from around the country who have successfully initiated novel approaches within their organization or helped start new ventures will speak at the conference. With over 150 cooperative board members, managers and cooperative scholars expected in attendance, ample time for discussion and interaction will be included in the program. Conference organizers believe that participants learn as much from each other as from the speakers.

The conference will be held Nov. 1 - 2 at the beautiful Fairmont Kansas City at The Plaza, located in the historic plaza district of Kansas City. There is plenty of nightlife and other amenities in this convenient Midwestern location.

Visit www.wisc.edu/uwcc/farmercoops04/index.html for more information.

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Foundation Sponsors Future Co-op Leaders Pilot Programs
Cathy Statz, education director with the Wisconsin Farmers Union, Chippewa Falls, Wis., received a $5,000 grant from The Cooperative Foundation, Inver Grove Heights, Minn., to assist in her in developing "Building Cooperative Futures" youth forum.

This grant is part of the Leadership Development Fund of The Cooperative Foundation, which is designed to assist in the professional development of young cooperative leaders. "Building Cooperative Futures" is a collaborative, cross-sectoral approach to cooperative education for 18- to 25-year-old young adults. A pilot program was hosted by the British Columbia Institute for Cooperative Studies at the University of Victoria earlier this year. Nearly 70 young people from Canada, England, Iran, Japan, Columbia and the United States participated, including Jim Kvalheim from Sun Prairie, Wis.

The next annual conference tentatively is scheduled for May 2004 in Saskatchewan, Alberta, Canada. The Cooperative Foundation grant will be used for program development.
"This grant is an opportunity for The Cooperative Foundation to sponsor quality education programs that help train future leaders in the cooperative way of doing business," said Cooperative Foundation President William J. Nelson after making the presentation on behalf of his board of trustees.

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Cooperative Communicators Association Receives Foundation Grant
The Cooperative Communicators Association (CCA), Lubbock, Texas, received a $5,000 grant from The Cooperative Foundation, Inver Grove Heights, Minn., to assist with scholarships and fellowships.

"The fellowship program makes it possible for CCA members, who would otherwise be unable, to attend the annual CCA Institute," said Sheryl Doering Meshke. She is communications and government relations director for the Associated Milk Producers, Inc., New Ulm, Minn., and serves as the 2003-04 CCA president. "The scholarship program provides college students who are interested in cooperative communications with an opportunity to receive professional experience."

The CCA will hold its next annual institute in Louisville, Ky., June 12-15, 2004. For more information, contact the CCA at www.communicators.coop.

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Foundation Supports Online Cooperative Development
The Cooperative Foundation has commited $5,000 to Co-op 101, a course using the National Cooperative Business Association’s (NCBA) online education platform, Co-opU…The Cooperative Learning Center, to deliver the program.

According to Leta Mach, director of cooperative education at NCBA, Washington, D.C., "The Co-op 101 course introduces the history, values, principles, structure and business fundamentals of cooperatives in the United States. It provides must-have information for anyone who works for, or belongs to, a cooperative."

The online course enhances existing cooperative education programs and offers new ways to explain the cooperative model. The interactive, scored course allows students to learn at their own pace, at their own desk and at a time convenient for them. It is one of several features of Co-opU, including an online library, museum and discussion forum.

The Cooperative Foundation grant will provide partial scholarships to cooperatives with budget constraints so that they can offer the Co-op 101 course to employees and members, said William J. Nelson, president of the foundation based in Inver Grove Heights, Minn.

"Development of innovative programs in education is important to the future of all types of cooperatives," Nelson added. "It is a genuine pleasure for The Cooperative Foundation to be able to join in helping to provide quality programs in cooperative education."

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Four Scholarships to National Housing Co-op Conference Funded
The Cooperative Foundation of Inver Grove Heights, Minn., awarded $2,720 in travel scholarships to the National Association of Housing Cooperatives annual conference in Atlanta, Ga. The conference was held in September. Four steering committee members from the Nicollet Cooperative Association attended workshops to develop their skills for the 28-household organization. Those four participants included Vicki Barker, Lorena Duarte, Dale Johnson and Mary Hall, all from Minneapolis. The four recipients worked with Northcountry Cooperative Foundation, a non-profit, educational affiliate of the Northcountry Cooperative Development Fund, to receive funding to attend the conference. They brought home the lessons learned in Atlanta to put to use in developing their new housing cooperative on Nicollet Avenue South.

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Co-op to Help Rural Elderly Supported by Cooperative Foundation
A cooperative developed to provide health and human services to the elderly and others in need across rural areas of Cass County, North Dakota, has received a $5,000 grant from The Cooperative Foundation, Inver Grove Heights, Minn.

"In rural states like North Dakota, the problems of providing services to the elderly and others with disabilities, particularly in very rural areas, are reaching a crisis situation. With the out-migration of the young, rural counties are left with an elderly population and a shrinking tax base to support services. The lack of adequate numbers to support essential services and a shortage of personnel to staff them compounds the problem," said Jane Strommen, executive director of The The Good Samaritan Center of Arthur, N.D.

Although the Good Samaritan Society has experience and expertise in providing long-term care and service, it does not have cooperative development experience. The Cooperative Foundation grant will be used to assist in education and training to develop a cooperative model for delivering these services, explained The Cooperative Foundation President William J. Nelson while announcing the grant award.

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Cooperative Foundation Awards $1,000 for Kids Learning Guide
The Cooperative Foundation, Inver Grove Heights, Minn., has awarded a $1,000 grant to North Dakota's successful Marketplace for Kids program, Mandan. The grant will offset costs of printing and distributing the complimentary Marketplace for Kids Learning Guide participants receive as part of the program.

The Marketplace for Kids is a pint-sized spin-off of the Marketplace of Ideas program held annually in North Dakota. The kids version provides a forum for youth to showcase creativity, ideas, inventions, productions, solutions and projects that bolster community economic development. The Learning Guide contains lesson plans and ideas to assist students in business ventures, innovation, building a cooperative, technology and volunteerism. Students then develop a project based on the materials presented to them from the Learning Guide. The program focuses on grades 4 to 6, but is open to all ages. This year, some 15,000 youth people participated. Eight Martketplace for Kids education days are planned in 2004. For more information, email Marketplace of Ideas/Marketplace for Kids, Inc., Executive Director Marilyn K. Kipp at marketplace@btinet.net.

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Holland Receives $1,000 to Attend Mapping Conference
Steve Holland, a graduate student at the University of Minnesota, has been awarded a grant of up to $1,000 to assist in his travel and attendance at the Mapping Co-operative Studies in the New Millennium conference. This grant is part of The Cooperative Foundation’s program to encourage the professional development of new cooperative leaders.

"The British Columbia Institute for Co-operative Studies is offering some exciting new programs and this opportunity for Steve to participate will benefit programs here in the Upper Midwest," said The Cooperative Foundation President William J. Nelson, Inver Grove Heights, Minn. "We are pleased that he has been asked to present New Generation Cooperative or Investor Owned Firm, a paper Steve co-authored with Prof. Robert King of the University of Minnesota's department of applied economics."

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Finding the Leader Inside Yourself
“The number one reason people won’t set goals for themselves or their businesses is because they don’t believe they deserve to be successful. Success scares the death out of people,” said Dennis Mannering.

Motivational speaker and author, Mannering delivered his keynote messages to 65 young producers at a cooperative leadership conference Feb. 20 and 21 at Ho-Chunk Hotel and Convention Center in Wisconsin Dells. The participants were part of the advanced leadership training session sponsored jointly by Upper Midwest cooperatives and organizations.
Mannering said many people confuse leadership with management. People can learn the science of management from books and classes. However, he said leadership is an art involving character, commitment and an ability to see it as an on-going process.

“Leaders take the blame and leave the credit, while managers take the credit and leave the blame,” he said.

Whether striving to be a better leader in their personal lives, their businesses or their cooperatives, Mannering said people have it within themselves to lead. “And the function of a success leader is to set direction, but do you know that 96 percent of people don’t set goals,” he said.

The fear of success stymies most people. Yet, every successful person sets a goal and measures how well they’re doing towards achieving that goal. Mannering said people still believe that it’s not what you know, but whom you know. They believe that if you’re born on the wrong side of the tracks, your future is bleak. Some people think good leaders somehow just got lucky – they woke up one morning and were instantly successful.

“We all have problems. Guess what folks? Problems constitute life because those without any problems have no opportunities,” Mannering said.

“Look at our leaders. Sam Walton learned under J.C. Penney, who believed in the Golden Rule. Lee Iacoca set goals every day. Chris Evert hit hundreds of tennis balls every day. Success doesn’t just happen. You make it happen,” Mannering said. “But if you don’t have a goal, how do you reach it?”

After setting direction or a shared vision for a family or a business, Mannering said the leader must coach and communicator. “Everyone has to understand the game plan, otherwise how do people know what you, as the leader, want?” he asked.

In addition, the team must believe in the game plan, and everyone must pull in the same direction to execute it. “Communication is not talking or listening, but understanding,” he said. Then through positive feedback, the coach or leader can ensure the team stays focused.
“Everyone needs a performance appraisal,” he added. If leaders don’t evaluate team members, they evaluate themselves and often incorrectly.

Finally, Mannering advised producers to adapt to the team the have. “Isn’t it funny that we get married, often times to people who are the complete opposites of ourselves. Then we spend all our time trying to change them into ourselves,” he said.

The Young Producer Cooperative Leadership Conference is recognized as an innovative collaborative effort between Upper Midwest cooperatives to train the next generation of leaders. Sponsoring organizations include Alto Dairy Cooperative; CHS Cooperatives; Cooperative Resources International; Equity Cooperative Livestock Sales Association; Foremost Farms USA, Cooperative; The Cooperative Foundation; Wisconsin Farm Credit System; Wisconsin Federation of Cooperatives; and the University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives. In addition to the 65 returning producers, the conference included nearly 100 first-time attendees in separate workshops. The conference is free to attend through membership in one of the sponsoring organizations. Also presenting workshops during the advanced training were William Nelson, president of The Cooperative Foundation, and Anne Reynolds, a Foundation trustee.

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Sogns, Torkelson Develops Leadership Skills
Personal and professional growth, fostering leadership skills and learning more about sugar are just a few of the lasting memories the Sogns and the Torkelsons take away after six years on the Education/Leadership Development Committee at Minn-Dak Farmers Cooperative.

"You get a lot from the University and others on agronomy, seed varieties, chemicals," Kurt Sogn says. "This group isn’t into that because there’s already so much information out there. This group focuses on our business - from how the factory operates to how sugar sales happen. This group makes you realize how much of a wider vision you have to have."

In fact, the committee helps bridge the generational gap that can occur in cooperatives. It was Gene Clifford of Wisconsin and a Co-op Hall of Famer who observed that the first generation creates the co-op, the second generation uses the co-op and the third generation loses the co-op.

"This program helps young stockholders become more informed and involved in the many significant facets of the co-op besides their own farms,"explains Brent Torkelson of Foxhome, Minn.

"For me, the extra involvement and training has been priceless,"emphasizes his wife, LeeAnn. "Although I grew up in a rural area, being part of a family farm was new to me. These opportunities allowed me to 'get up to speed.' I feel like I've been able to support Brent more effectively because I better understand his profession. In fact, I believe I've taken much more ownership in our farm because of working together on the committee and attending the conferences."

Kathy Sogns agrees. When she hears Baker, Minn., friends talk about Minn-Dak or farming or sugar, she speaks up confidently with facts, real life, everyday facts about her family's farm and their co-op. "When people start talking, I'm able to answer all kinds of questions from trade with Mexico to how the factory works. I'm able to explain it very clearly in real-life terms they can understand," she says.

In addition to learning from Minn-Dak employees or special guests such as Luther Markwart, executive vice president of the American Sugarbeet Growers Association, the couples attend outside workshops. That included trips to Wisconsin for a young producer leadership conference sponsored by upper Midwest cooperatives and organizations.

Both couples attended in 2001 and came away with a new appreciation for the benefits of understanding the differences in people's personalities and their potential strengths. This past February, the Torkelsons returned to the advanced sessions.

"The speaker helped us explore some goal-setting techniques which we've already been utilizing both in our professional and personal lives," explains Brent.

Kurt says that mixture of professional and personal development makes the program valuable. Some people will use the new information or skills to become better farmers or leaders in other organizations. "Not everyone will become a Minn-Dak delegate or director, but I think you see the needs that your cooperative has from its members and you realize the jobs that members need to do. Somebody has to step up and do them sooner or later, if we want Minn-Dak to stay in business," he says.

"We gained a greater vision of how we can influence and lead in the years to come," adds Brent. "We also appreciated having access to the Minn-Dak board and management. They saw the need to insure the future by acting in the present. We believe their investment will pay large dividends."

The couples are especially motivated to work for the future success of their farms and their cooperatives because of their children. The Torkelsons have three sons and the Sogns have a son and a daughter.

"Our first son was born just days after the E/L Committee's inception in early 1997. Our third son was born just hours after we gave our final task force presentation to the Minn-Dak board and management. So, it's all tied together in special ways for us," adds LeeAnn.
Both couples continue their involvement by mentoring the next participants on the co-op committee. In addition, the Torkelsons have made a commitment to attend at least one leadership training session a year as a couple to ensure they keep growing for the future of their farm…and their cooperative.

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Cooperative Foundation Elects Trustees (4/1/03)
Six upper Midwest leaders have been re-elected to the board of trustees of The Cooperative Foundation. The five included Patricia Keough-Wilson, Wahpeton, N.D., who was also elected board chair; Jeffrey Swanhorst, Minneapolis; John Gisler, Falcon Heights, Minn.; Myron Just and Dan Stoltz, both of St. Paul; and Anne Reynolds, Madison, Wis. They join current board trustees Gail Graham, St. Paul; Brenda Forman, Pierre, S.D., Michael Gustafson, Kindred, N.D.; and Jean Jantzen, Inver Grove Heights, Minn., who also serves as board vice chair. Stoltz will serve one year to complete the term previously held by Jerry Fenner of St. Paul, while each of the other trustees will serve three-year terms.

Meanwhile, Rod Nilsestuen was named a trustee emeritus. Nilsestuen of Madison, Wis., served on the board until Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle recently named him secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. Nilsestuen will be honored for this service during the international meeting of the Cooperative Communicators Association June 21-24 in Madison.

The Cooperative Foundation started in St. Paul, Minn., in 1945 by area cooperative leaders through the vision and financial generosity of architect Thomas Ellerbe, Sr. The private foundation serves as a common ground for the business community to support unique and innovative cooperative development and education projects throughout the upper Midwest.

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