Survey: Best Mentors

Reprinted from GRAIN JOURNAL July/August 2019 Issue

Bruce Krehbiel

Chief Executive Officer

Kanza Cooperative Association | Luka, KS

In industry since 1975

“Hal Richard, CEO, FCStone, was a friend while I was vice chairman of the FCStone Board of Directors as a 33-year-old manager.

“When I got to know Hal, I was an auditor and knew the numbers side of the business, and he gave me ideas about people, not numbers. Hal showed me empathy and understanding for other perspectives. He helped me learn how to build a business. As a result, I’m a better person and manager.

“Larry Krehbiel, my father, helped me get started in the industry.

“He is a member of the Kansas Cooperative Hall of Fame. He started working in the industry in the ‘50s, merged some companies, and was a founder and general manager of Mid Kansas Cooperative in Moundridge, KS.

“He was a great influence and the reason I got into cooperatives. He had me help him on the scale when I was 12 years old, and that’s when I fell in love with cooperatives.

“We also worked together after he stepped away from the coop and was doing consulting work. We bought land and farmed together.”

George Secor

President and Chief

Executive Officer

Sunrise Cooperative | Fremont, OH

In industry since 1985

“Loren Chalfin, president and chief executive officer of Ohio Farmers Grain and Supply, convinced me to go to college. I was hesitant at the time I graduated high school in 1980. He said, ‘If you don’t go to college, you’ll eventually hit a ceiling. You’ll no longer want to work with your back but with your mind instead. Go to college.’

“I owe Loren for setting me straight and seeing the value of a four-year degree. Now I’m president and chief executive officer of an $800 million cooperative. I would not have had the same opportunities without getting my degree.

“Jerry Silveus, general manager of the management trainee program for North Baltimore Farm Center, introduced me to the grain industry. When I started my internship at North Baltimore Farm Center, I had no experience with grain. I worked with Jerry, and every day he balanced the grain operations with paper and pencil.

“He taught me how to receive and weigh grain, know if you’re long or short, and how to do things the right way in the grain business. He also taught me how to balance the books with paper and pencil every day, then he’d check to make sure I did it properly, and showed me the benefit we provide our farmers.”

Chris Pearson

Chief Executive Officer

Agtegra Cooperative | Aberdeen, SD

In industry since 1999

“Roger Koppen, chief executive officer of FC Cooperative, Farnhamville, IA, was my first boss and I worked for him directly for 10 years as a senior staffer.

“Roger was as good of a teacher and mentor as I’ve seen in this business. He always was willing to take time to help younger or new staffers understand the coop business and how it differs from publicly traded companies.

“Dale Locken, chief executive officer of South Dakota Wheat Growers Cooperative (now Agtegra Cooperative), was another boss of mine who really helped me understand how to run businesses of scale, not just day-to-day operations but things like how businesses should evolve as they grow. Thought processes and business structures have to change as companies continue to grow. If things are successful, that does not mean you should not change them. He taught me how to look at a company and see where changes ought to be made.”

Andy Riffe

Vice President and General Manager

Stratford Grain Co. | Stratford, TX

In industry since 1968

“My father, Don Riffe, president of Stratford Grain Co., has been in the grain business since 1940. He started me in the business when I was 10 years old, carrying weight tickets to trucks. Dad was the second generation of my family to run Stratford Grain Co. Our company was started by my grandfather, Earl Riffe, in 1928. I am the third generation of my family to run it.

“My dad was president of the National Grain and Feed Association in 1980. He taught me how to run our business, as well as how to talk to and take care of our customers. Dad told me to always have my customers’ best interests at heart. He said, ‘If you take care of your customers, they’ll take care of you!’

“Jim Williford, plant manager at Cargill in Princeton, IN, taught me how to originate grain when I was fresh out of college and working at Cargill to broaden my experience in the grain industry. He was a real old school grain merchant and a great mentor.

“Ken Penny, Nebraska area manager for Cargill, really understood how to run facilities and was great at managing people. He taught me those things, as well as how to navigate the Cargill corporate structure when I worked for him in Omaha, NE. The 10 years spent working for Jim, Ken, and others in Cargill helped me develop important skills that were extremely valuable when the time came for me to come home and manage Stratford Grain Co.”