The Hillsboro Farmers Co-op Board of Directors and Employees are proud to announce the start of Larry Swalheim as their new General Manager effective June 7.

The Board and employees express sincere appreciation toward retiring General Manager Ed Gunderson and thank him for his leadership and direction over the past year.

Swalheim will take to the reins with knowledge and experience in both the co-op system and farm business management.

He started his cooperative career as General Manager at Consumers Co-op in Sauk City in 1977. Larry would go on to manage five years at Ellsworth Cooperative where he brought their co-op’s struggling balance sheet into the black.

His legacy continued when he took a job in 1987 as Grain Marketing Manager at Dane County Farmers Union Cooperative, which adopted the Landmark Cooperative name in 2003 when Evansville combined with Cottage Grove.

Swalheim spent 20 years as CEO of Landmark before he retired in 2010.

“Half-retired,” he joked. “I have to stay in the ag-business to keep my head sharp.”

He has done just that with interim assignments in North Dakota where he managed grain facilities capable of filling 110-car trains with corn and soybean en route to the Pacific Northwest.

Swalheim brings a passion for farming and teaching to the Hillsboro Farmers Co-op. He is fresh off the heals of an assignment in a remote part of Kenya, working on a Federal Government owned agriculture research farm. Through the Farmer to Farmer Program, he has worked with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and goes on assignment every other year to foreign countries, donating his time to help beginning cooperatives develop a business plan.

Swalheim said, regarding his most recent employment opportunity, “I love working in the co-op system and am real pleased to be working in Hillsboro.

“I look forward to working with the Board and employees on a long-term plan to help chart a course for the future of the Hillsboro Farmers Co-op.”

The Hillsboro Farmers Co-op was founded in 1919. It has grown to serve the communities of Cazenovia, Hillsboro, Kendall, Ontario, Wilton, Wonewoc, and Yuba by specializing in grain marketing, feed, agronomy, and petroleum products. Additional services include heating/cooling and plumbing, a full-service station, hardware and convenience stores, and transportation services.