The merger of Landmark and Countryside cooperatives became official on March 1, 2021, and today Jim Dell CEO and president of the new business unveiled the new brand for the business going forward: Alcivia.
Dell explains the leadership wanted to wait to announce the new brand until both organizations were aligned. So 120 days into the merger, Alcivia is now the brand and identity.
“The story behind the brand is one where we hope our employees can help convey to our customer base—we are now all together and the civil and civility side brings our cooperative spirit,” Dell says.
The new brand is a result of customer research and collaboration between the marketing team, board of directors and a cross-section of employees.
“We arrived at a distinctive name we can call our own,” Dell says. “As a member on cooperative, powered by engaged employees with a single mission, shared vision and common values, we are a community of passionate individuals driven by a common desire to make the future, even brighter for our members, customers and employees.”
Alcivia has a footprint across most of Wisconsin in addition to parts of Minnesota, Illinois and Iowa. The cooperative has 490 full-time employees (833 total active employees), more than 25,000 members, and annual sales of more than $625 million.
“I think we owe it to our membership to look at opportunities to keep us competitive and provide returns on equity,” Dell says. “And I think you’ll continue to see hybrid models, mergers, partnerships and alignments within cooperatives.”
Countryside had begun to consolidate two of its feed mills in Wisconsin, and Dell says the cooperative is continuing to execute on acquiring that greater efficiency.
Dell says the new cooperative has already set important new milestones with its business citing growth in its input financing, which totaled more than $50 million this past year.
Another point the board focused on was managing human resources and specifically, “keeping good solid employees long-term,” Dell shares.
With a farmer base representing a lot of dairy production, Dell shares members are on solid footing despite the milk market not offering “a sustained period of strong prices. We have healthy accounts receivable, which is a good indicator for how our farmers are doing. And we will support them in any way we can.”
Dell also shares the cooperative’s vision: customer success powered by engaged employees.
Alcivia Fast Facts:
- 39 million bushels of grain storage
- 82 million gallons of propane, diesel gas (combined energy and Cstore)
- 250 thousand tons of protein equivalent and commodities for animal nutrition
- 240 thousand tons of crop nutrient sales
- $30 million crop chemical sales
- $20 million seed sales
