Dorchester Times: Dorchester's Farmers Cooperative Names New CEO

Thursday, July 11, 2019

Dorchester's Farmers Cooperative Names New CEO

Dorchester-headquartered Farmers Cooperative has found its new CEO.

According to a posting on the Co-op's website, Allan Zumpfe has been hired to replace current CEO Ron Velder, who will be retiring Nov. 1, 2019.

According to research by the Times, Zumpfe has served as chief executive officer of Cooperative Producers Inc., a Hastings-based farmer-owned cooperative.

Zumpfe has 32 years of experience and leadership working for agricultural cooperatives and privately-held companies. He started his career with Cargill as a management trainee in Ravenna, then worked as a grain merchandiser for Quad County Co-op in Exeter before becoming the grain division manager for Agri Co-op in Holdrege for 16 years.

Zumpfe was raised on a grain and livestock farm near Milligan, and graduated from the University of Nebraska with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics. He and his wife, Angie, have four children.

Meanwhile, Farmers Cooperative Chairman of the Board Galen Kuska said: "I would like to thank Ron for his hard work, dedication and leadership the past 25 years making this company what it is today. I would also like to thank the Board of Directors for their time and effort throughout the search process. I'm looking forward to Allan meeting our employees and patrons of this great cooperative."

With sales of nearly $800 million, 60 locations, and 600 employees, Farmers Cooperative is a full service supply and marketing cooperative. As the Times has reported, Farmers Cooperative is now the 70th largest cooperative in the nation, according to the National Cooperative Bank Co-op 100 list.

DHS alumus (Class of 1972) and former Longhorn standout Ron Velder has served as CEO of the Farmers Cooperative since 1994. Velder has been employed by the Co-op since 1973. He has received numerous awards during his time as chief, including being named agri-businessman of the year.

A few years ago, the Seward newspaper wrote: "Velder has always put the farmer’s interest first and has made sound business decisions that have served Farmer’s Cooperative well. Velder has provided that unique blend of leadership and vision needed to consolidate and grow a farmer owned cooperative organization that serves the needs of more than 6,500 member producers."

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2 comments:

AnonymousMarch 2, 2019 at 7:26 AM
Ron's not a quitter. Go 4 50 years!
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AnonymousJuly 11, 2019 at 9:26 PM
Good luck to Allan, as he has big shoes to fill. Ron played a huge part in making the co-op what it is today and placing Dorchester a stand out community in the Nebraska agri-business economy.
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Dorchester: A Good Little Family Town

Dorchester, Nebraska (est. population 630) is located in northern Saline county. Close in proximity to Interstate 80, Dorchester is only 25 minutes from the state capital of Lincoln (est. population 250,000) and about 55 minutes from Omaha (metro population 725,000).

Dorchester's median resident age is 37 years. In 2005, Dorchester had a median family income of approximately $35,600. The median house value was about $63,000. About 95 percent of Dorchester residents commute to work via Interstate and highways.

The village has a quality public school, which received a $4.1 million expansion and modernization in 2008; it offers a small classrooms and individualized attention. Total enrollment of grades K-12 is around 230-250 students.

Ancestries of the Dorchester area are primarily German (42.4%), Czech (24.9%), Irish (12.5%), English (5.4%), and Dutch (4.9%).

Dorchester Historical Facts

* On July 4, 1871, the railroad reached Dorchester.
* Incorporated in 1881, Dorchester's population grew from 200 to 500 by 1882.
* In 1882, Dorchester had 90 buildings, 35 of which were businesses or public facilities. Brick buildings lined both sides of Washington Avenue for two blocks.
* Dorchester's longest-running newspaper was The Dorchester Star, which was published until the late 1940s.
* By 1889, Dorchester's population is said to have reached 800, while the town housed an opera house, a two-story brick schoolhouse with a bell tower, and four churches.
* By the 1910s, Dorchester had electricity, a water tower and a fire department.
* Dorchester's main arteries, Highways 6 and 33, were graveled in the 1940s.
* Dorchester's first irrigation well was drilled on Chris Weber's farm and rural electrification was finished following WWII.

A Village with History

Dorchester is one of the "alphabet towns" on the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad line built west from Lincoln. The town site was selected for its pleasant location in the northern part of Saline County, about eight miles west of Crete. This situation is an attractive one, being on the level prairie land, midway between the West Blue River and Turkey Creek. The first named stream is three miles north, and the latter about the same distance south from the town. Dorchester was platted in 1870 and incorporated in 1881. The name "Dorchester" came from either for a suburb of Boston by that name or a town in England. No one is sure. Two of the very first settlers were James Seely and Edward McIntyre, who both made Dorchester their permanent home.

Dorchester: In The Beginning

Here is a look at Dorchester around 1890, less than a decade after its official incorporation, as documented by Andreas' History of the State of Nebraska:
* POPULATION: "About 300, and is made up of a substantial and progressive class of citizens, who are moral and industrious. ... The town grew but very little until the year 1879, for the reason that Pleasant Hill, on Turkey Creek, a short distance south, was the county seat and naturally drew a trade for quite a large scope of country."
* BUSINESS: "The business and professional interests of the town are represented by three general merchandise stores, two drug, one grocery, one furniture, two hardware, and two millinery stores, one bank, two restaurants, two hotels, three livery stables, a post office, one newspaper office, two elevators, two lumber yards, two coal yards, two blacksmith shops, two lawyers and four physicians."
* SCHOOL: "The schoolhouse is a good one. The schoolhouse was built in 1872, since which time the public schools have been continually kept up. The present schoolhouse is 24' x 40' in size, two stories high. The school is graded and consists of three departments. The house is found too small, and arrangements will soon be made to increase its size."
* CHURCHES: "There are three substantial churches."
* HOMES: "The residence portion of the village is made up of neat houses of different styles of architecture, but none of them very large."
* NEWSPAPER: "The Dorchester Star, which was established August 21, 1881, by H. C. Bittenbender, who edited it until January 19, 1882, when he sold it to Ryerson & Bullock, the present proprietors. The Star is a bright weekly paper, five-column quarto, in size, and is Republican in politics."