Officials with Farmers Cooperative Company (FC) and West Central® Cooperative this week announced a unanimous vote by their Boards of Directors to proceed with a merger vote by members of both cooperatives. Following several months of internal and independent analysis on the potential risks and benefits associated, the Boards approved the plan of merger and recommend a merger.

Pictured…Front row; Sue Tronchetti, Paton-area farmer and West Central Board Chair; John Scott, Odebolt-area farmer and FC Board President. Back row: Milan Kucerak, West Central President and Chief Executive Officer; Jim Carlson, Gowrie-area farmer and West Central Vice Chairman; Sam Spellman, Woodward-area farmer and West Central Board Secretary; Jordan Carstens, Bagley-area farmer and FC Board Vice President; Dan Reynolds, Rockwell City-area farmer and FC Board Secretary; and Jim Chism, FC Chief Executive Officer.

Odebolt-area farmer and FC Board President John Scott, said “Our members own these cooperatives. We encourage each owner to read the plan of merger and proposed articles of incorporation, ask questions, and return their ballot. Every member matters.”

West Central board chair and Paton-area farmer, Sue Tronchetti said “This is a landmark decision for our member-owners. Our Boards, management and employee teams believe we can diversify our businesses, improve member services and protect and enhance member patronage by utilizing our scale to procure more efficiently.”

Members are invited to hear presentations and information on the merger at one of 20 member meetings hosted Nov. 30th-Dec. 11th, 2015. A list of meeting locations and member resources are available online at wccgrow15.com or fcgrow15.com.

For a merger, Iowa law requires 50 percent of each membership to vote, with two-thirds of those votes cast to favor the proposal. Ballots and voting details will be mailed to each cooperative’s voting members approx. Nov. 20th, 2015. The votes will be counted at a special meeting slated for Dec. 18th, 2015.

Should the membership approve the merger, each cooperative will be represented by nine farmer-owners and member equity will roll into the new cooperative on a one-for-one basis. The combined cooperative, to be headquartered in Ames, Iowa, will be led by Kucerak as chief executive officer.