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Larry Swalheim leads area farmers at Landmark Services CooperativeInterviewed by Nathan Leaf
Chief Executive Officer of Landmark Services Cooperative, Cottage Grove Age: 57 Education: Graduated from Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, with degrees in history and sociology in 1972. Background: Born and raised on a farm near Cottage Grove; attended Stoughton High School. Family: Wife Dottie, four children, five grandchildren. Hobbies: Golf (16 handicap), reading, deer and pheasant hunting, fishing, treasure hunting. Management history: General manager at Sauk City Cooperative, 1977-1980; general manager at Ellsworth Farmers Union Cooperative, 1980-1985; regional business manager for Cenex in Madison, 1985-1987; grain marketing manager at Dane County Farmers Union Cooperative, 1987-1990; chief executive officer at Dane County Farmers Union, 1990 to present. About the company: Dane County Farmers Union changed its name to Cottage Grove Cooperative in 1997 and to Landmark Services Cooperative in 2003. The farmer-owned cooperative has 15 locations in south central Wisconsin and one in northern Illinois offering feed, grain and fuel services. The cooperative also has retail stores selling everything from food to hardware. The members buy what they need to operate from the cooperative and sell some of what they produce through the cooperative. The members then share in the profits of the organization. In 1987 it had sales of $26 million. By 2004 sales had grown to $137 million and last year were at $148 million. 2006 sales are projected at $173 million. Q. Why do you think you were hired to be general manager at the Sauk City Cooperative in 1977 without any co-op experience? A. The first thing I did was went and scoped it out pretty well. I went through their stores, and they had a large hardware store. Of course, I had managed a Farm & Fleet store so I gave them a few comments about their store, which they raised their eyebrows on but liked. It's a risky move doing that. But I also complimented them on their operations. I thought they looked really good. They had a very good, clean operation. Nice employees. I talked about how their employees are being perceived by the public and what I would do to build their business. I just gave them a lot of good, no-nonsense business things that I learned from people within the Farm & Fleet system and Sears system. I told them I was up and coming and that I could do the job well. And at any rate, they hired me. Q. What is your typical day like at Landmark Services Cooperative? A. My typical day is really a mixture. I get a lot of phone calls and a lot of e-mails. I have to have a certain amount of my day open so I can handle interruptions or customers giving me a call or a hundred e-mails. I manage my day around the various types of communications. A lot of it is spent working one-on-one with my managers. I give them a great deal of responsibility but then I'll also coach them or back them up. I meet with my board of directors once a month. I need to make sure that I have enough time each month to prepare myself for our board meeting. Q. What are Landmark's business goals? A. At the end of 2008, I'd like to see us hit $200 million in sales. More importantly than the $200 million is that all of our six business segments are all positioned for the future and are all profitable and returning value. Q. How do you ensure that that happens? A. We do a very good job of budgeting. All of my managers are trained very well in how to budget. And then we look for holes in that. A big part of every year is getting our annual budget. We ask every manager to develop a business plan. It doesn't have to be fancy. Just write it down on paper and I know what you're thinking. That's really important. Q. What are some challenges you face as you try to hit that $200 million mark? A. The things we deal with are always affected by the weather. To be successful with propane, we need a cold winter. We like a nice spring so we can get all of our work done. (And) your human resources are always a challenge. I've got a full human resources division. It's the best thing I ever did, let me tell you. Q. How would you characterize this spring? A. This spring is not the worst and it's not the best. We got a lot done to begin with and (since the rain and cold weather) we've been catching up. It has yet to be seen if we'll come out as good as we think we will. Q. What were some of the mistakes you made as a young manager? A. The mistake a young manager always makes is he's thinking more (about) today than tomorrow. In this world we are in constant change every day of the year. We're constantly repositioning ourselves for the future. We're watching our customers. As they grow and do things better and more efficient, we have to respond to that with our people and our equipment and practices. In earlier days I may not have seen that vision as much as I see now. I think anticipating change, being a promoter of change and having a vision are extremely important. Q. What are you most proud of? A. In my career, I'm most proud of Landmark. My job has always been like a hobby. I can honestly say it's the best thing I ever did to get connected with the cooperative system. It's something I strongly believe in and it's been a fantastic career. Q. One of your hobbies is treasure hunting. Where and what do you hunt? A. I have a metal detector and I go out and look for old coins and things. I put headphones on and you're just by yourself. You can't hear a thing. I like to go to a place that has been a lawn for a hundred years. Or I'll go where there used to be an old clothesline, or an old park, or somewhere where back in history something was there that isn't there anymore. And you might dig up an immigrant's coin or some old religious memorabilia. Q. What's your biggest find? A. One of the neatest things I've found was a 2 cent piece. That was the first coin after the Civil War that they put "In God We Trust" on it. Also I found a badge, down in Illinois, a fireman's badge. The person that it belonged to had been dead for 20 years. I researched it. Q. What else do you like to do in your free time? A. I like to do my international assignments (for the U.S. Agency for International Development). What I'm working on lately is in some of the former Soviet countries. They gained their independence in 1991 and have struggled ever since. They were used to the old collective system, and people have had a tough time going from being a peasant to a farmer in the Western-style business sense and to develop a sense of a cooperative and to work together. Q. Where on assignment have you been? A. I've done four assignments. The first one was in the Philippines in Mindanao. I helped three different cooperatives to set up articles and bylaws. I've done one in the Ukraine. I loved the Ukraine. In 2004 I went over to Moldova. I worked in a fertilizer cooperative helping the board of directors develop a business plan -- how to conduct a board meeting, how to work on a budget and other things. I really enjoyed it. I just got back from there in April. Q. What is the biggest difference between cooperative operations here and the places you've visited during those assignments? A. I'm always amazed: I go over there and see the size and magnitude of their problems and I come back here and my problems are just a lot smaller. Q. What kind of problems? A. Bureaucracy, for example. In Moldova, they reelected the communist party in 1998, so you've got a communist party in control and you're trying to do Western-style business. It's ridiculous. Q. What did you like best about the assignments? A. The people. Every place I go, it was really something. I had a great time with the people in the Philippines. In the Ukraine, they would invite me to a dinner and we'd be sitting around the dinner table for four hours. They would want to know everything they could. I was always accepted so well and made permanent friends. nleaf@madison.com madison.com ©2009 Capital Newspapers. All rights reserved. |
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