March 29, 2010
The Board of Directors of Western Iowa Cooperative is pleased to announce the appointment of John Bender from Huntingburg, Indiana, to the position of General Manager.
John was raised on a livestock and grain farm in North Central Ohio. He graduated from the College of Agriculture at the Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. His agricultural career started in sales and management, in the agronomy area, at local cooperatives and that led him into the role of Grain Division Manager at a local Cooperative.
He spent time as a Commodity Broker and Merchandiser at a Regional Cooperative in the Eastern Corn Belt before returning to the county as the Assistant Manager/Grain Division Manager at Blanchard Valley Farmers Cooperative in Findlay, Ohio. There he helped lead the team in building one of the more successful Coops in the Eastern Corn belt over a 10 year span.
He assumed the role as General Manager at the Dodge City Cooperative, in Dodge City, Kansas in 2001. His tenure there was characterized by positioning the Coop to not only survive but thrive in a challenging weather environment across the High Plains. The company enjoyed not only success financially but saw good growth as it assumed a leadership role in SW Kansas. The Coop established efficient partnerships with neighboring and national coops. Bringing a scale of service and opportunities beyond what the individual partners could have enjoyed, while maintaining local control. In 2007 a new challenge awaited John as he took on the role of combining four Cooperatives in SW Indiana together as Superior Ag Resources Coop. In this role he successfully found the efficiencies needed to bring the entity to the level of financial success demanded by today’s business environment. The coop formed the largest energy LLC in the Eastern Corn Belt when it recently combined retail energy departments with a neighboring coop forming SynEnergy Partners LLC. They also have grown in grain and feed by seeking out relationships to bring value to their local members.
Wherever his tenure John has brought open communication, growth, a team approach, dedication to staff development, and success to the Coop he has been associated with. The Board looks forward to these same themes to be carried to Western Iowa Coop as principles already in place in our organization.
John is married to Pam a native of the Omaha, Nebraska area and for her this transition is a welcome move home. They have one son four year old Reagan. John will assume the role as Manager on May 1st. One unresolved issue is what team John will be supporting November 20th when the Hawkeyes host the Buckeyes, in what has become a fall classic. All kidding aside the Board is pleased to have secured him into the Leadership Team at Western Iowa Coop, and looks forward to working together to continue to bring the success to which w have all become accustomed.
Ronald Michener, President
Western Iowa Cooperative
