Barton, David G.

David Barton is Professor and Extension Agricultural Economist in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Kansas State University. In addition, he is Director of the Arthur Capper Cooperative Center. He has served on the faculty of Kansas State University since 1976. Prior to coming to K-State, Dr. Barton completed his Ph.D. studies at Purdue University and was a faculty member in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Cornell University for three years.

David Barton's primary faculty responsibilities at Kansas State University are to provide education programs to Kansas agribusiness firms on economic and management topics through the Cooperative Extension Service. He has conducted numerous management training seminars for agribusiness managers on management topics such as management-by-objectives (MBO), motivation, communication, delegation and financial planning. Dr. Barton has also advised and assisted agribusiness firms in the improvement of their general management and financial management practices.

His classroom teaching assignments have been on the topics of (1) quantitative methods for agribusiness decision-making, and (2) agricultural cooperatives; and his research activities have included studies on milk, meat, grain, and food marketing and on agribusiness financial management. Cooperative related research includes studies on financial performance, equity management, loss handling, governance and unification. He has prepared several case studies on cooperative agribusinesses and provides educational programs to cooperatives and other agribusinesses on governance, finance, strategic thinking and business structure.

In 1984 David Barton was appointed the Director of the newly established Arthur Capper Cooperative Center. The mission of the Center is to enhance the understanding of the nature and role of cooperatives in our society. The Center uses the teaching, research and extension resources of the University to improve cooperative education and research at Kansas State University. The activities of the Center are supported by income from endowment fund contributions made by cooperatives and their friends and from project fees and grants. Dr. Barton is frequently called upon to design educational programs, to prepare education materials and to make presentations on cooperative-related topics. High interest topics recently presented are on governance, finance, strategic thinking and business structure.

He is currently serving on the on the Kansas Cooperative Council (KCC) Board of Directors.

Bass, Robert

Bob Bass was elected to the CHS Board of Directors in 1994. He currently serves as its first vice chairman, chairman of the Audit Committee and a member of the CHS Foundation Finance and Investment Committee.

Bass has a wealth of agricultural and cooperative experience. He is the vice chairman for the Wisconsin Federation of Cooperatives. And, he served 15 years as a director and officer for Co-op Country Partners cooperative and its predecessor organizations.

Bass also is involved in numerous cooperative and agricultural industry organizations.

After completing the farm training program at Madison-Area Technical College and earning a bachelor’s of science degree in agriculture and extension education from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Bass spent two and a half years as a high school teacher. He and his wife, Judy, operate a 500-acre dairy and feed grain farm with his brother and sister-in-law near Reedsburg, Wis. Bass has one stepson.

Becker, Lawrence (Larry)

Lawrence (Larry) Becker was first elected to the board of the former Adams-Marquette Electric Cooperative in 1982. Since 1989 he has served continuously as board secretary. Along with work on negotiations and by-laws sub-committees, Larry is active in cooperative education and legislative activities. He previously served on the education committee of the Wisconsin Federation of Cooperatives; Larry currently serves on WFC’s government affairs committee.

Larry and his wife, Kathy, are parents to two grown sons, Ryan and Ben. Through their own education and that of their sons, the Becker family has strong ties to the University of Wisconsin – Madison. The Becker family farm near Glen Oak in Marquette County includes 800 acres of cropland to grow mostly hay and grain to support their dairy and sheep herds.

Larry is a former high school and technical college instructor in agricultural courses. He is president of the Wisconsin Sheep Breeders Cooperative and chairman of the American Lamb & Wool Councils. Larry is currently serving a presidential appointment to the National Sheep Center at the United States Department of Agriculture. In addition, Larry is a current appointment to the Governor’s Grow Wisconsin Livestock Council.

Brandenburg, Jeffrey A.

Jeff specializes in providing audit, accounting, and consulting services to businesses with a special emphasis on cooperatives, agribusiness and the insurance industry. He currently serves as the Agribusiness Group Leader for Clifton Gunderson LLP. Jeff is an active member in the National Society of Accountants for Cooperatives and a variety of cooperative and agribusiness associations. He also holds the designation of Certified Fraud Examiner and received his BBA from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

Dahlgren, Joel

Joel Dahlgren is an attorney with Stoel Rives, LLP. He practices in the firm's Corporate group. He provides general corporate representation to cooperatives and agribusinesses in the Midwest and throughout the United States. He tracks the issues and trends of interest to farmers and members of the cooperative community. His extensive experience assisting cooperatives with law matters includes formation and dissolution, loan financing, debtor/creditor, annual meeting, unification, and employment.

As a loan officer at the Saint Paul Bank for Cooperatives, he helped cooperatives in North Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin secure capital. He chaired the Grand Forks, North Dakota office's delegated loan committee. As a representative of the Cenex/Land O'Lakes joint venture, he assisted cooperatives in southern Wisconsin with salary administration programs, employee policy handbooks, strategic and long range business plans, board planning retreats, general manager evaluations, and related marketing and delivery services.

Griffin, Mary

Mary Griffin is Senior Policy Advisor for National Cooperative Business Association. She manages the Cooperative Finance and Tax Council (CF&TC), which identifies and addresses finance, tax and legal issues that have cross-sector impact on cooperatives. She advocates before the US and International Financial Accounting Standards Boards for standards that maintain the integrity of the cooperative form of business and is working to coordinate the U.S. participation in the international cooperative community’s response to FASB/IASB rules that impact cooperatives. Griffin also advocates on behalf of cooperatives before Congress, working to secure more funds for cooperative development in the US. Prior to coming to NCBA, Griffin was with Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports, where she represented the interests of consumers on various finance-related issues. Griffin received her law degree from Temple University and her LLM from George Washington University.

Hoyt,Ann

Ann Hoyt was a U.S. delegate to the General Assembly of the International Cooperative Alliance in Singapore and traveled to Indonesia to study cooperative development projects there. She serves on the University Committee of the UW-Madison Faculty Senate, where she is coordinating the Gaia Project, a campus-wide series of faculty-staff discussion groups on global warming and sustainability. For the Faculty Senate, she is also chairing a faculty fundraising effort for needs-based scholarships for undergraduates. Ann also serves as principal investigator of the Southern Child Welfare Training Partnership, which develops and delivers high quality training to managers, staff, and care-giving families to provide family-centered child welfare services throughout Wisconsin. The partnership has a $2.47 million annual budget and accomplishes its mission through a collaboration with county and tribal child welfare agencies, the Wisconsin State Department of Children and Family Services, and the University of Wisconsin system. In 2006, Professor Hoyt and three faculty from Agricultural and Applied Sciences received a $500,000 grant to study the impact of all types of cooperative businesses on the U.S. economy. Professor Hoyt is also the long-time director of the University of Wisconsin Credit Union and the National Cooperative Business Association.

Hueth, Brent

Brent Hueth is the Director of the University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives and Associate Professor in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics. Professor Hueth received his Ph.D. in Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics from the University of Maryland, College Park. Prior to joining the University of Wisconsin, Brent spent two years at the University of California Berkeley as a Research Economist, and then eight years at Iowa State University as Associate Professor in the Department of Economics. His research and teaching focuses on cooperative organizations and agricultural markets. He is the Principal Investigator of a large-scale USDA-funded research project to measure the incidence and economic importance of cooperative activity nationwide. This research is expected to generate the most comprehensive inventory to date of U.S. cooperative firms, and will serve as a unique resource for researchers seeking to understand, critically evaluate, and improve cooperative performance.

Kundert, Paul

Since 2003, Paul Kundert has been President/CEO of the University of Wisconsin Credit Union, a growing federally insured financial cooperative serving the University of Wisconsin communities. UW Credit Union’s 300 employees serve the financial service needs of more than 115,000 members through 13 branch locations and more than 60 ATMs. With assets totaling over $1 billion, UW Credit Union is ranked nationally among the nation’s leading credit unions.

Prior to joining UW Credit Union, Mr. Kundert held a number of senior positions at IBM Mid America Employees Credit Union during his 14-year tenure including the position of President and Chief Operating Officer. During that time, the credit union’s membership grew by more than 33,000, assets increased by $800 million to over $1 billion, and members’ equity increased by $100 million.

Paul received a Bachelors Degree in Accounting from Winona State University. He also earned an MBA from the University of St. Thomas as well as a CPA professional designation.

Paul is a native of Rochester, Minnesota and currently resides with his wife and two sons in Middleton, Wisconsin.

Lathrop, David

David Lathrop has over three decades of experience in corporate finance, both public and private - and both domestic and international.

He is past President of six insurance companies, and past President of Pioneer Financial Services, which he listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Since his retirement from the corporate world, he has maintained a consultancy advising cooperatives and other organizations on matters of finance, risk management, governance, and serves as an advisor to Boards of Directors.

David lives near the edge of Madison on his 180 acre certified organic farm, and also resides in Aspen Colorado.

LOWERY, MARTIN J.

Martin Lowery is Executive Vice President, External Affairs of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA). His overall responsibility is to ensure that NRECA continues to serve the needs of its membership and to assist in directing the implementation of the organization’s strategic plan.

Prior to being Executive Vice President, External Affairs at NRECA, Martin was named Manager of the Management Services Department’s Consulting and Training Services Division. His responsibilities included directing the provision of services to NRECA member systems and allied organizations.

These activities represent a full range of management and technical consulting and training services, including strategic planning, management audits, merger studies, marketing programs, market research, organization studies, compensation planning, financial management, board and supervisory training and development, member and employee attitude surveys, and management information systems.

Prior to joining the Consulting and Training Services Division, Dr. Lowery served as Assistant Manager of NRECA’s Computer Services Division. As Assistant Manager, he was responsible for a staff of 20 professionals covering all aspects of the data processing environment with particular emphasis on compensation and benefit administration, new applications, database design, system software and computer operations.

Previous experience includes five years as manager of an Engineering and Technical Services Division for a Washington-based management consulting firm.

Dr. Lowery received a Bachelor of Arts (cum laude) from DePaul University and his Ph.D from Duke University.

McNamara, John

John serves as Accounts Manager of Union Cab of Madison Cooperative. He has been a member of Union Cab since 1988. John has served as a director for Union Cab for 8 years (4 as president) and has been on the Strategic Planning Committee for 6 years. John also serves as a director for the US Federation of Workers Cooperatives, sits on the Worker Ownership Fund (NCDF) Advisory Board, and will be starting his third year in the Masters of Management: Cooperatives and Credit Unions at St. Mary's University (Halifax). John sits on the fledgling Madison Cooperative Network Steering Committee managing their web site (www.madcoops.org) and writes an occasional blog on worker cooperatives at http://rochdale.livejournal.com. John is also a member of several other cooperatives and credit unions.

Schomisch, Tom

U.W. Emeritus Professor Tom Schomisch has served as a cooperative director for three cooperatives. He has been elected as a director of Group Health Cooperative – South Central Wisconsin since 1982. He lead the organization through two changes of management as president of the board. Tom was a founding board member of Cooperative Development Services and lead the selection process for hiring two CEOs during his 10 years of board service. He was appointed an outside director for Badgerland Farm Credit Services and predecessor Associations from 1990 to 2005. In this role he helped boards hire two CEOs to lead the Association.

Tom served as faculty member of the University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives from 1974 to 1996. He coordinated the Statewide Cooperative Director Leadership program from 1989 to 1996. Tom retired as Chairman and Professor of the U.W. Life Sciences Communication Department in 1994. The Wisconsin Federation of Cooperatives presented him with the Cooperative Builder Award in 2005.

Schry, Michelle

Michelle Schry is the general manager of the People’s Food Cooperative, Inc. of LaCrosse, WI; a thriving natural foods cooperative with over 3500 members and retail sales in excess of $10 million. In 2004 she led the cooperative through a $4.5 million expansion and renovation project making it the largest single food co-op in Wisconsin and deepening its mission to connect its members to local food. Schry is active in the larger cooperative community serving on the boards of Cooperative Development Services, the National Cooperative Business Association and the National Cooperative Grocers Association. Schry was the proud recipient of the 2006 Cooperative Service Award presented by CDF’s Howard Bower’s Awards Committee, and that same year received the 2006 Rada Distinguished Alumni Award from her alma mater, the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse. She is also active in community issues both as a private citizen and as a member of numerous city committees including the Americorps Advisory Council, and the City Vision Action Committee, which oversees the implementation of the City of LaCrosse’s strategic economic development plan.

Swanson, David P.

An attorney at Dorsey & Whitney LLP, David Swanson has been a partner in the corporate practice group since 1998 and chair of the Agribusiness, Rural Electric and Cooperatives Law practice group. For 25 years, his practice has focused on organizational issues, financing and transactions for agricultural and rural electric cooperatives, as well as cooperative financial institutions. He has worked with many start-up groups on the organizational, tax and securities issues involved in starting a new rural enterprise.

Dave’s work experience has included facilitating the joint venture between National Cooperative Refinery Association and Farmland Industries, Inc., which established Cooperative Refining, LLC; he had the lead role in the 1992 acquisition by Tri-State G&T (Denver, CO) of Colorado-Ute assets in a Chapter 11 proceeding and in the documentation and legal aspects of the 1998 consolidation of Cenex and Harvest States Cooperatives; handled private placement debt offerings in 1997-1998 for Minnesota corn Processors, Tri Valley Growers and American Crystal Sugar Company; and he also played the lead role in the formation and capitalization of many rural electric joint ventures – Cooperative ConNEXTions, EnPower Services, Western States Power Corporation. In 2002, Dave Swanson took the lead role in the financing of a $939 million coal plant in Arizona for Tri-State G&T and has more currently provided counsel in the development of ethanol plants in the states of Nebraska, Indiana, and Ohio and formed a unique cooperative whose members consisted of Best Buy, Jostens, and others to share software. Dave has most recently been involved with the development and financing of ethanol and biodiesel plants across the country, as well mergers and acquisitions of biofuels facilities.

Mr. Swanson is a 1978 graduate of St. Cloud State University (B.S., chemistry) and a 1981 graduate of Vanderbilt University School of Law. Prior to joining Dorsey & Whitney, he worked for 15 years at Doherty, Rumble & Butler in St. Paul, Minnesota, and 2 years at Chapman and Cutler in Chicago. He lives in Plymouth, MN, with his wife and four children.

Topel, Bob

Bob was a founding member of Foremost Farms USA Board of Directors where he currently serves as the First Vice Chairman. Foremost Farms is beginning it’s 13 year of operation. Serving over 3000 Dairy Farmer Member Owners in 7 States in the Midwest, Foremost Farms markets and processes member milk into consumer products as well as delivering specialty cheeses to buyers throughout the United States and International markets.

Bob was named to original Board of Directors of Farmers Health Cooperative where he helped set up the Bylaws and Governance Structure of the new cooperative.

Bob also serves as a Director for the Wisconsin Federation of Cooperatives, where he Chairs their Political Action Committee, Co-chairs the Two-state Dairy Committee and also currently serves on the Governance Committee to review the present Board and governance structure.

Bob was appointed to the newly formed Wisconsin Livestock Siting Review Board, which reviews disputed local livestock operation siting for the State of Wisconsin.

Bob is also involved locally, helping to set up the Smart Growth Plan for his township and currently serves on the Town of Portland Plan Commission.

Bob was recently elected to a second term as Treasurer of St. John’s Lutheran Church of Waterloo.

In the past Bob has held leadership positions with Wisconsin Dairies, Land O Lakes and many community committees. (School, Youth groups, etc.)

Bob Topel and his wife, Chris, along with their daughter Jenny and her husband Jeff Spoke own and operate Northcrest Dairy Inc. a 660-acre, 290-cow dairy near Waterloo, Wis. He and his wife have three other children, Jeff, Karen and Kelly.

He enjoys being active in the dairy industry, cheering for the Wisconsin Football Badgers at Camp Randall and playing golf.