Furth, Wilson, Moorhouse
win top honors for
communications excellence

ithout strong, effective communication and education programs, most cooperatives won’t survive from one generation to the next.

Communications -- be it in the form of publications, member meetings, Web sites, annual reports or through co-op field representatives -- is the life blood of a successful cooperative. If members don’t understand why the co-op is taking certain actions -- or not taking them -- it is only a matter of time before apathy, dissent and the competition erodes the membership base.

For their outstanding efforts to keep their members well informed and their cooperatives alive and well, the Cooperative Communicators Association (CCA) annually recognizes some of the nation’s top practitioners of the art of co-op communications. This year’s awards were presented in June during CCA’s annual communications institute in Louisville, Ky., an event which marked the start of CCA’s second half century of service to the nation’s cooperative sector.

Top award winners included: CEO Communicator of the Year -- Mark Furth of AMPI in New Ulm, Minn.; H.E. Klinefelter Award winner -- Patricia Keough-Wilson, recently retired from Minn-Dak in Whapeton, N.D.; and Graznak Award winner -- Lisa Moorhouse of CHS Inc. in Inver Grove Heights, Minn.

Furth: a respected voice
in co-op and dairy industry
When Mark Furth speaks, people listen -- especially dairy producers. For example, a recent survey found that 97 percent of AMPI members read Furth’s Manager’s Message column, mailed each month to members with their milk checks. This high readership rating is a reflection of his integrity, clarity and ability to relate the type of information members want to hear in a style that they can relate too.

He was commended for building communications into all planning and management processes at AMPI, and for successfully using his skills as a one-on-one communicator to bring AMPI members’ viewpoints into national dairy policy discussions.

Furth says he considers the award recognition of the co-op’s overall commitment to communications. "I’m fortunate to represent every employee and member who has gone out of their way to make communications a priority."

Nominator Don Wick, a wellknown Midwest farm broadcaster and dairy journalist, says: "Mark is a tireless advocate for the cooperative system, the dairy industry and his farmermembers." Adds Bill Oemichen, president and CEO of the Wisconsin Federation of Cooperatives: "Not only is Mark an effective communicator himself, but he is extremely mindful of the role communications play for his cooperative and its members."

After joining AMPI in 1970, Furth rose through the ranks of the billiondollar co-op, which has 1,700 employees, becoming general manager in 1989. The AMPI corporate office is located at the site of his first hometown job, here he started as a grocery bagger in his youth. Furth was praised for holding on to "the small town values he grew up with, including hard work and honest, straight-forward communications."

Keough-Wilson: voice and
conscience of her co-op
During its half-century of life, CCA has included within its ranks many outstanding communicators who have done much to bolster the nation’s network of cooperatives. But few rise to the status of being called "the voice and conscience of her cooperative," as was Keough-Wilson. Co-op leaders say they looked to her to help "interpret the big picture impacting the coop’s day-to-day business, using her keen insight to present senior management with alternative perspectives."

Keough-Wilson’s career included stints as a newspaper reporter, publisher of her own agricultural publication and long service as communications director of the Minn-Dak sugarbeet growers’ cooperative. She was communications director at the co-op from 1989 until her retirement in 2003. During her career, Keough-Wilson won countless awards for journalism and communications excellence, but she says the Klinefelter Award -- presented to those who help make a significant contribution to advancing the art of co-op communications -- was the crowning recognition of her career.

Among those nominating her was former North Dakota Governor George Sinner, who said that Keough- Wilson was "a genius in telling the cooperative story and in making that story understandable, as well as believable and acceptable." Minn-Dak once even "loaned" Keough-Wilson to the city government to quickly and expertly write a proposal to help attract an important ag processing facility to the area.

She was praised for consistently demonstrating an interest in defining communication as broadly as possible, believing in the importance of two-way communications and multiple approaches to achieving goals. Keough- Wilson "is willing to take risks to try something new, but lays the groundwork carefully to ensure success."

She directed the launch of a co-op leadership-development program that has become a national model.

Graduates of the program say "she saw the need to ensure the future success of the co-op by acting in the present" and helped us gain a vision of how we can influence and lead our organization in the years to come."

Keough-Wilson was the first woman board member to serve on her state’s Coordinating Council of Cooperatives and chaired the board of the Cooperative Foundation, which supports a broad array of cooperativebased initiatives, and where she helped to establish a new communications strategy.

Through her leadership in CCA, including service as president, she has been a bridge builder, pushing for the first joint program between a regional association of CCA and the Association of Cooperative Educators’ Institute. More recently, she chaired CCA’s 50th anniversary observation.

CHS’ Moorhouse excels at
multiple communications tasks
Lisa Moorhouse has a real passion for communications and cooperatives. Her selection as the Graznak Award winner recognizes her as one of the nation’s best young (age 36 and under) co-op communicators. She was praised for her "creative internal communications efforts at CHS and the ability to share an often complex cooperative story with employees and many other stakeholders in the co-op."

A co-worker said of Moorhouse: "Even though our co-op has been enmeshed in constant change, she has met every challenge with a can-do attitude, professional skill and creativity."

Moorhouse is responsible for CHS employee communications, including serving as editor for the employee newsletter and manager of the employee Intranet site. She also develops communication strategies, including human resources-related issues, and works with governmental relations and a wide range of additional communications responsibilities.

Not only does she help to inspire CHS employees, they help to inspire her. Moorhouse relates the tale of a CHS truckdriver who was "so incredibly proud of what he does. You could see it in his face and hear it in his voice. He drove 500 miles a day, hauling thousands of gallons of fuel. He knew how he impacted hundreds of people in his area of the country. What an incredible honor to tell his and others’ stories to our employees and member-owners."

She joined the cooperative in 1996 after receiving her BA in public relations from Minnesota State University --Moorhead. In 2004, she earned a Master’s Certificate in mass communications from the University of St. Thomas.

Moorhouse has been active in CCA for the past six years. In 2003, she was named volunteer of the year for her work as chair and assistant chair of both the publications and special projects categories of the CCA communications contest, as well as leading the effort to redesign CCA’s Web site. Moorhouse also serves on the Minnesota FFA Foundation board of directors.

Sunkist’s Smith among
other top winners
Other top award winners in CCA’s 2004 cooperative communications contest included: USDA’s Rural Cooperatives magazine won several awards in the contest, including first place for serious feature articles for "Living with Sprawl," by Catherine Merlo, about how some co-ops are dealing with urban sprawl.

USDA ag economist Julie Hogeland won an honorable mention for co-op education for an article titled "How Business Culture Drives Economic Behavior in Co-ops." The overall magazine won an honorable mention for best member magazine.

For a complete list of CCA award winners and more information about the organization, visit: www.communicators. coop.

CCA is a national organization of more than 350 professional communicators who work for cooperative businesses and organizations throughout the United States and a number of other nations.






















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