Every October for the past 43 years, Dennis Hunwardsen, general manager of Jackson-based FCA Co-op, has celebrated National Co-op Month.
But this October is different.
Hunwardsen and the farmer-owned co-op he has managed for the past 11 years are gearing up for its 100th annual meeting, which will take place next month. The past year-plus has been dedicated to celebrating the centennial, with a bevy of anniversary-related events, open houses, promotions and special publications.
“It’s a pretty big deal, celebrating 100 years,” Hunwardsen said. “To complete a 100th year of business is really something remarkable.”

Hunwardsen joined FCA Co-op as general manager on Nov. 1, 1998, though almost his entire working career has been devoted to cooperatives. He began as office manager of the Clarence Cooperative Co. in his hometown of Clarence, Iowa, in 1966. After 11 years in that position, he decided to pursue cooperative management. His first general manager position was at the cooperative at Cresco, Iowa.
While at Cresco, he was offered a position with the Omaha Bank for Cooperatives, now a part of CoBank. He served in several credit positions, working with cooperatives in southern Iowa and southeast Nebraska during his years with the bank.

In 1985, he decided to go back to working for local cooperatives and spent two years in interim management. Over that two-year period, he served as the interim manager at five different cooperatives in Iowa and Nebraska.
Hunwardsen said he really enjoyed the challenges and opportunities of interim management, but after being gone from home Monday through Friday for the better part of those two years, it was time to find a more permanent position.

Following the interim management, he accepted the general manager position at the Alleman Cooperative Co. at Alleman, Iowa, located just north of Ankeny. In 1993, he assisted in the merger of the Alleman Cooperative with two other cooperatives in central Iowa to form Heartland Cooperative. Following the merger, he served as the petroleum department manager for a year, then as general manager of the cooperative at New Sharon, Iowa, before moving to Jackson.

Hunwardsen said his management style and leadership philosophy are governed by the seven core cooperative principles: (1) voluntary and open membership; (2) democratic member control; (3) members’ economic participation; (4) autonomy and independence; (5) education, training and information; (6) cooperation among cooperatives; and (7) concern for community.
Hunwardsen says he believes in the cooperative principles as the foundation of the business and understands who owns the cooperative.

“This is the members’ cooperative,” he said, “and the members and the board of directors maintain the forward-thinking philosophy of reinvestment in the co-op for the benefit of the future.”
Many improvements and new facilities have been added under Hunwardsen’s administration and operating results have provided one of the great benefits of a cooperative — money returned to the members in the form of patronage dividends in proportion to the business conducted with the cooperative while maintaining a strong financial position. This has been accomplished with the efforts of a strong employee team and a dedicated board of directors working effectively together, Hunwardsen said.
As a strong believer in the whole cooperative system, Hunwardsen serves on the board of directors of the Cooperative Network, MAC Education Foundation and Cooperative Development Services. He also serves on the board of directors of Pillar Insurance Co. LTD and Parthenon Risk Partners, an insurance agency organized to market workers compensation insurance, property and casualty insurance and employee health care insurance to cooperatives that adhere to strict safety practices. FCA is a founding member of Parthenon Risk Partners and Pillar Insurance Company LTD.

“The cooperative, in my mind, is the best way to do a lot of business and there’s a real benefit to doing business with a cooperative,” Hunwardsen said.
Hunwardsen is also active in his community as a member of the Jackson Kiwanis Club, the board of directors of the Jackson Economic Development Corp. and the advisory board of the Sanford-Jackson Medical Center. He is also a past member of the board of directors of the Jackson Health Care Foundation.
Hunwardsen and his wife, Donna, have two sons: Roger, a construction engineer with Knutson Construction Co. in Minneapolis, and Ross, chief financial officer of North American Operations for Avery-Weightronics in Fairmont. They have five grandchildren.
FCA Co-op maintains six facility locations in three counties: Jackson, Lakefield and Okabena in Jackson County; Sherburn and Trimont in Martin County; and Round Lake in Nobles County.