Time continues to fly by for me as I am sure it does for our extremely busy members. It doesn’t get busier than this time of year for our farmer members in the fields or our country living customers excited to start their spring plans or new home construction.  

There’s been a long list of events over the last three months that have kept our team quite busy, but every time we welcome customers to one of those events we get the chance to learn from you all – through your interaction, your engagement and comments, your ideas and concerns, and your personal stories. These opportunities and events are what make GreenStone, your financial cooperative, a special place to work and do business. 

I’m so proud of the value my teammates live by each day – the relationships they build with each of you and the expertise they share to support your goals. Over the last few months we’ve been busy with what we fondly refer to as “meeting season.” It’s a time when many of our members are just a little less busy, and therefore we help to fill that time with information, resources and knowledge. This season GreenStone hosted more than 20 educational opportunities for members and prospective customers. That’s on top of the always special Patronage Day, and our engagement in many industry tradeshows, community events, and several other initiatives we help with throughout our territory. I know you have many opportunities to learn and grow each year, and we thank you for prioritizing our events as valuable to you!  

I won’t belabor the point too much, but to help showcase the breadth and depth of our team’s efforts, here’s a few examples of what we had going on in the first quarter: 

• Agricultural producer forums and dairy connect events where members gained insights to help them plan strategically through market updates, risk management options, and practical tools.  

• In-person and virtual timber forums focused on planning, industry issues, business management, and legislative initiatives. 

• In-person and virtual construction seminars where attendees walked through the ins and outs of the details and choices involved in the process of building their dream home. 

• A two-day conference focused on networking and information sharing for young, beginning, and small farmers. 

And of course, to top it all off was our 21st Patronage Day when we hosted more than 5,000 members at our branches and returned a record $125 million of our profits right back to you – our member-owners! Stepping up means more than $125 million back, it’s our continued growth alongside our members and relationships built for over a century. No matter the season, we remain committed to being your reliable financial partner. 

That commitment is further highlighted in the annual report you should have recently received! The report demonstrates the resilience and commitment of both your cooperative’s members and employees. Our culture is built on a foundation of strong relationships with our member-owners, and that commitment remains steady regardless of the economic cycle. Our focus remains on maintaining open communication with our members and delivering financial solutions tailored for each of their unique needs. Highlights of the 2025 annual report include: 

• Net Income of $270 million 

• Total Assets of $16 billion 

• Total Loan Growth of 5.4% 

• Outreach support of approximately $1.5 million 

• More than 12,700 hours volunteered 

Your cooperative had an outstanding 2025 and we are ready to continue our success in 2026 and beyond. Like always, for us to accomplish this, we need your assistance with a couple very important items. 

First, it’s time for our annual customer satisfaction survey, which helps us gather valuable feedback on our members’ overall experience with the cooperative. Aa randomly selected group of members should have received the survey. 

Conducted each year, this survey measures customer satisfaction, loyalty, perceptions of our products and services, and changes in service over time. The insights we receive not only reflect our members’ current perspectives but also highlight positive trends and opportunities for improvement, helping GreenStone continue to enhance our customer experience. 

Secondly, our election ballots will be sent on May 4. All regions will be electing our nominating committees, and regions 4 and 5 will also have director elections this year. Please be on the lookout for your ballots and don’t forget to vote before the June 9 deadline. 

Best wishes for a safe and successful spring planting season. Please feel free to reach out to me any time if I can ever be of assistance. 

As always, thank you for feeding me, my family and the world, and thank you for your membership. 

 

To view the article in the online 2026 Spring Partners Magazine, click here.