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DATE19, ##, 2009 MAY 2011
VOLUME 30, NUMBER # VOLUME 32, NUMBER 12
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INSIDE BIZ FORUM
KENT KAISER
CHS among largest companies in Minnesota
State government should end the practice of giving preferential treatment to some businesses that apply for contracts. 4A
FORUM
by Jessica Harper DAKOTA COUNTY TRIBUNE
Diversity – having it often means the difference between success and failure. And this is certainly true for CHS Inc., an Inver Grove Heights-based energy, grain and foods company. The farming cooperative has a hand in nearly every type of agricultural product from livestock feed to crop nutrients to food ingredients – even fuel. As a result, CHS, a Fortune 100 company, has grown exponentially to become the sixth largest company in Minnesota. Based on population, Minnesota is the state with the highest con-
centration of Fortune 500 companies, according to Fortune 500 magazine. “We are unique on the list in that we – as a cooperative – are owned by the people who use our products,” CHS spokesperson Lani Jordan said. As a cooperative, the company is owned by 300,000 members – all farmers from across the globe – who share in the profits. CHS was founded under the name Cenex Harvest States Cooperatives in 1998 by a merger between two regional cooperatives, Cenex Inc. – established in 1931 – and Harvest States Cooperatives – established in 1929 under the name North Pacific Grain Growers Inc.
Cenex owned rural gas stations across the nation, while Harvest States Cooperative supplied grain products. The company changed its legal name to CHS in 2003. Since then, CHS has acquired several other entities such as Multigrain SA, a Brazilian grain handling and merchandising firm, in 2006. The company has continued to develop an international presence with 500 locations and 8,700 employees across the globe. In addition to food products, the company distributes fuel. Earlier this year, CHS expanded its See CHS, Page 40A
Government should look at ways to help protect people’s privacy when using mobile communications technologies. AL 4A FRANKEN FORUM
DAVID OLSON
In order to keep the best, the state’s school districts should change the way teachers are retained and dismissed. 5A
FORUM
If Republicans have their way with the state budget, Minnesota will lose more jobs in the coming years. LEE 5A EGERSTROM
Photo submitted
Photo submitted
CHS invested $26 million in 2010 to strengthen its refined fuels supply infrastructure in the northern plains region.
Inver Grove Heights-based CHS is overseen by a 17-member board of directors. Each director must be a full-time farmer to join the board. Gary Anderson, vice president, CHS Grain Marketing (left); John Johnson, CHS president and CEO; and Mike Toelle, CHS board chairman, discuss grain issues with John Husk, CEO of Elburn Cooperative, during a tour of the cooperative’s Illinois River terminal at Morris Illinois.
Exports must grow, panel says Burnsville company visited by U.S. commerce secretary, presidential panel by John Gessner DAKOTA COUNTY TRIBUNE
Eastman Kodak invented the digital camera in 1975 but “did not embrace the change that was obviously coming,” Antonio M. Perez, CEO of the iconic company, told a Burnsville business au-
dience Thursday. The United States will make a similar mistake if it doesn’t export more products, Perez said, noting that the country’s 30 percent of world purchasing power is “not going to be forever.” “This is the time we have
to start looking outside,” he said, “just like Kodak should have done.” Perez and U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke were part of a panel discussion at Permac Industries in Burnsville that focused largely on See Jobs, Page 8A
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Among its many products, CHS distributes dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS), a byproduct of ethanol production which can be used in livestock feed.
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U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke talks during a panel discussion Tuesday at Permac Industries in Burnsville. Permac CEO Darlene Miller serves on President Obama’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. Photo by Rick Orndorf