Cody Niess

As a commodity trader, Cody held various roles that culminated in his leadership as the general manager of a joint venture that included a newly designed and developed high-capacity shuttle train loading grain facility in Northwest Minnesota. As General Manager, the joint venture, owned in portion by a single-location agricultural cooperative, saw substantial growth by increasing its patronage base by 40% in one year. Cody’s experience as a commodity trader and general manager, along with his educational pursuits has helped him develop business acumen and experience in various commodity trading capacities, business development, freight management and contract dispute resolution and arbitration.

Cody’s connection to agricultural cooperatives is both professional and personal. His family’s long-standing involvement in the cooperative movement, including his great-grandfather’s role in establishing a Northern Iowa agricultural cooperative in 1945, his grandfather’s role being Board President of the same Northern Iowa Cooperative and promoting agricultural cooperatives in Ukraine in the 1990’s, or his father’s role being board president of the cooperative following that; shows that Cody’s professional passion for agriculture and agricultural cooperatives can be explained through his genetic makeup.