Wisconsin Ag Connection - Bass, Reynolds, Skemp Receive Cooperative Builder Award

Wisconsin Ag News Headlines

Bass, Reynolds, Skemp Receive Cooperative Builder Award
Wisconsin Ag Connection - 11/16/2015

Bob Bass, CHS director; Anne Reynolds, University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives executive director; and Sam Skemp, former Frontier-Servco FS general manager, received the highest statewide honor for cooperative business leaders during Cooperative Network's annual meeting in Bloomington, Minnesota, last week. The Cooperative Builder Award is given to individuals who demonstrate the utmost loyalty and service to the cooperative movement at the local, state, regional, or national level.

Bass, a farmer from Reedsburg, has served 21 years on the board of directors for CHS Inc. During his service, CHS has grown from a $7 billion business to revenues of nearly $45 billion and earnings exceeding $1 billion this year. He played a central role in the cooperative's 1998 Cenex/Harvest States merger as a member of the governance committee, and he helped put in place a project review process of CHS's investments as chair of the investment and audit committee a few years later. Bass also served on the boards of his local Co-op Country Partners and Cooperative Network.

Reynolds is a respected leader in the cooperative community for her extensive knowledge of governance and member loyalty issues, and for her strategic planning work with boards of directors. Her efforts span economic sectors, income classes, and cultures, ranging from projects with low-income workers to large agribusinesses. Anne currently holds leadership positions on projects including the Madison mayor's cooperative development initiative, several local food initiatives in Madison, and new education programs on board leadership and employee ownership. She also serves on co-op boards as diverse as the Senior Cooperative Foundation, the Rainbow Bookstore Cooperative, the Northcountry Cooperative Development Fund, and The Cooperative Foundation.

Skemp, from Sun Prairie, retired in January 2015 as general manager of Frontier-Servco FS in Jefferson. He had spent more than four decades in the GROWMARK System of farm supply cooperatives, and Frontier-Servco had become one of GROWMARK's largest FS cooperatives through several mergers and acquisitions under his leadership. Sam served as board chair of Cooperative Network from 2008-14, and he chaired numerous committees with the Wisconsin and Illinois Farm Bureaus over the years.

Cooperative Network has honored the distinguished achievements of cooperative leaders from both Minnesota and Wisconsin since the two statewide associations merged in 2009.

Other Wisconsin Headlines