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United Producers CEO Thanked for Leadership in Co-op Education

Source: United Producers, Inc.

The 2015 recipient of the mentorship award from the Association of Cooperative Educators (ACE) has had widespread impact on the development of leaders in several cooperative sectors, especially agriculture.

Dennis Bolling will receive the Reginald J. Cressman ACE Award at the annual ACE Awards Banquet on July 14 at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. Bolling is the retiring CEO of the largest livestock marketing cooperative in the United States, United Producers, Inc., based in Columbus, Ohio. He joined the cooperative in 1989 as CEO of UPI’s predecessor company, Producers Livestock Association. Previously, he was an officer with CoBank, a U.S. cooperative bank serving industry in rural areas.

Recently, Bolling was instrumental in the establishment of the Center for Cooperatives, Business and Community Education and Development at The Ohio State University. He also helped found Mid America Cooperative Council (MACC) in 2003 to address the lack of unique co-op educational resources available in the Midwestern region. Additionally, Bolling has been chair of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives (NCFC) Education Committee since 2002 and serves on the Executive Council for NCFC.

Throughout his long career in cooperatives, Bolling has demonstrated exceptional commitment to co-op education for employees, directors and members, says MACC Executive Director Rod Kelsay. He recalls that Bolling and his colleagues were unable to find adequate, convenient training for directors of member cooperatives he served while at CoBank, so Bolling coordinated the development of a program, including writing and presenting much of it himself. That was three decades ago or more when director education received less attention, Kelsay explains.

Bolling was also the driving force in launching ‘UPI University’ for United Producers’ employees which includes company orientation, sales training and management training courses.

Bolling will be honored alongside five other cooperative leaders recognized for demonstrating cooperative education excellence in programming, research, cooperative development and youth leadership. The awards ceremony is part of the annual ACE Institute, this year held at UMass Amherst. The 2015 ACE Institute runs from July 12 to 15 and draws leaders primarily from the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. ACE members are educators, researchers, communicators, elected leaders, economic developers, and students dedicated to understanding cooperative organizations and learning from each other. More information is at www.ace.coop.

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