In looking at where we are going, there is no way we can not look at where we came from. We came from a group of people who were strong, determined and full of hope. They saw a future through drought, hail and dust storms, and continued to believe that there would be rain. More times than not, they were not disappointed. The rain came, the crops grew and there was strength in the survival. Since it’s founding in 1919, The Garden City Co-op, Inc. has also hoped for the rain, and when it came, celebrated with its member owners, now over 2,000 strong.
The Garden City Co-op, Inc. believes in the Cooperative model and the important role it plays in creating value for its members. The farmers of The Garden City Co-op, Inc. are critical because they are also the owners. To ensure we continue to create value, we follow our mission and vision statement and execute them within our core values. Our mission statement describes what we do as a company, while our vision statement describes who we want to become.
Our Mission:
We help farmers be successful by creating value for their farm through our people, assets, and technology.
Our Vision:
To be the most valued partner in our farmer's business through committed Cooperative teamwork.
Each of these statements are designed to help guide our Board and Employees in their strategic decisions that they make while serving our member owners. The Garden City Co-op, Inc. has a strong history of trying new things to create value. It was started by farmers over 100 years ago to fill a need in infrastructure, services, technology and innovation, where few other companies were interested in investing. Today we believe that it is our people and assets enabling technology that helps us create differentiated value. Our core values that we believe in have a strong history as well.
Our Core Values:
These values keep us moving forward to strive for new ideas and innovations to help farmers be more successful. We also believe that we have to conduct our business in an honest and trustworthy manner that allows us to be stable and depended on by our members. We want to create value for our farmers beyond a simple transaction. Rather, we want to be a trusted advisor, earning their operation’s business for generations to come. We are proud and fortunate to not only be a part of a cooperative tradition but a family tradition as well, having many multi-generational family farmers as our member owners. We look forward to creating value for our farmers into the future.
Moving Forward Together - For Future Generations from Garden City Co-op on Vimeo.
With a Board of Directors comprised of 7 Directors and 3 Associate Directors, and an employee group of approximately 150, we continue to look for the rain and when it comes, we continue to celebrate.
Tyler Hands was raised in the Plymell community just South of Garden City. After graduating from Garden City High School, Tyler attended Kansas State University where he majored in Milling Science and Management and minored in Leadership Studies. After graduation, Tyler worked for three years at Quaker Oats in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He is now back helping out on the family farm south of Garden City and south of Deerfield. They raise irrigated wheat, milo, corn, and soybeans and also dryland wheat and milo as well as running two small feedlots and cow/calf operations.
Tyler is the fifth generation to help farm the family farm and the fourth generation to serve on the board, starting with his great-grandfather, V.V. Hands, then his grandfather, Fielding Hands, followed by his father, Greg Hands.
Tyler and his wife, Amanda, have three daughters - Macy, Gentry and Lainey. They belong to the First United Methodist Church. Tyler also enjoys hunting and fishing.
Tyler became an Associate Director of the Garden City Co-op in December 2010. He became a Director in December 2012 and Chairman in December 2017.
Bill Maughlin lives in Dighton, Kansas and operates a dryland grain farm in northwest and southeast Lane County raising wheat and milo. He is the third generation of his family to farm in Lane County.
After graduating from Dighton High School, Bill attended Barton County Community College in electronics and the Garden City Community College in agriculture.
Bill and his wife, Donnis, have two grown children, a son and a daughter, and two small grandchildren. Bill is currently serving on the Dighton United Methodist Church Board and the Walnut Creek Extension PDC committee. Bill also works off the farm for the Lane County USDA-FSA office as a fieldman.
Bill previously served on the Dighton Co-op Board and the Garden City Co-op Board as an Associate Director from 2005 to 2008. He was elected to the Board of Directors in December 2011.
Clayton farms with his family North of Deerfield Kansas. Maddux Farms is a fifth generation multi-crop operation, on both irrigated and dryland acres. After graduating valedictorian from Deerfield High School, Clayton attended Kansas State University where he earned a degree in Aeronautical Technology with a minor in Safety Studies. After college, Clayton worked for a short time as a flight instructor for Kansas State, and as a regional airline pilot, before returning home to farm. Clayton and his wife Sarah live in Garden City Kansas. Clayton became an Associate Director of the Garden City Co-op in December 2015 and Director in December 2017.
Christopher Fullmer farms in southern Gove County where he raises dryland wheat and milo. He attended Kansas State University where he majored in Math and Psychology.
Christopher became an Associate Director of the Garden City Co-op in January 2014 and was elected to the Board of Directors December 2016.
Gordon Drees was raised North East of Garden City. He attended Garden City High School and Kansas State University where he majored in Agricultural Technology Management and minored in Business. He worked in the grain industry after college and is now back helping with the family farm north east of Garden City. They raise wheat, corn and milo.
Gordon is a fifth generation farmer. Gordon and his wife, Kelly have one son, Cooper. They belong to the Trinity Lutheran Church.
Gordon served as an Associate Director of the Garden City Co-op between December 2011 and December 2013, and was elected to the Board of Directors, December 2014.
Lynn Teeter was raised on a farm East of Ulysses in Grant County. He has dryland wheat and milo farms in Central & Southern Grant County.
Lynn graduated from Emporia State University with a B.S. degree in Business Administration & Economics.
Lynn went to work for Sullivan, Inc. in 1973 and became a Stockholder, Board Member, Officer, and General Manager of the corporation. He continued as the Ulysses Area Manager when the Sullivan, Inc. grain elevators were sold to Garden City Co-op in 2006. He retired in 2011 after 38 years.
Lynn is married to wife, Tracy. He has one daughter, Amy Townsend and husband Ty, grandchildren, Jansyn and Jaxson, in Leawood, KS.
Lynn is a past Board Member and Chairman of the Grant County Extension Council, past Board Member and President of Grant County Development,and current Board Member of the Grant County Scholarship Foundation and the Centura Bob Wilson Memorial Hospital Board.
Lynn served as an Associate Director of the Garden City Co-op starting December 2012 and was elected as a Director in December 2013.
Max Engler III farms in northern Kearny County and northwest Finney County where he raises dryland wheat and milo. Max and his wife, Cathy, have two children, Zeke (attends KSU) and Zoe (attends GCCC). The Engler’s are members of the Bible Christian Church in Garden City. Max served several years on the Finney County Farm Bureau board and County Extension board.
Max is the third generation to farm in America. In the year 1912, at age 24, Max’s granddad, Max Sr., left Köndringen, Germany and homesteaded in the sandhills south of Garden City. Max’s dad, Max Jr., returned from WWII in 1944 and started custom farming, breaking out native sod in northern Kearny and Finney County and eventually establishing the unit farmed by the family today. Max III graduated from KSU in 1981 with a degree in Agricultural Economics. He was employed with the Federal Land Bank in Guyman, Oklahoma for 2 years and then in the Garden City office for 5 years. Max returned to the family farm in 1988.
Max joined the board in December 2017.
Curtis farms north of Deerfield on his wife (Emily)'s family farm. They farm irrigated and dry-land corn, wheat and milo.
Curtis graduated from Lakin high school and then attended Garden City Community College and KU where he received a Communications Studies degree.
Curtis and Emily have two daughters; Taylin and Paityn, and a son, Brayden. They attend the Deerfield United Methodist Church.
Curtis became an Associate Director December 2016.
Bio coming soon!
Bio Coming Soon!
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Jeff Boyd grew up on a family grain farm north east of Garden City. He joined the Garden City Co-op in April of 2002 after graduating from Kansas State University with a Bachelors in Ag Business. He is the General Manager / CEO, taking over upon John McClelland's retirement in November 2018. Jeff previously held the role of IT Manager as well as operation, sales, and accounting roles in the crop production, petroleum, and grain departments, and most recently was the Chief Financial Officer. This diverse background enables Jeff to understand the needs of the member farmers of the Garden City Co-op. He also represents the Garden City Co-op on the board of Windriver Grain, LLC. Jeff earned his MBA from Colorado State University in May of 2013. Jeff is married to Cassy Boyd and they have one son, Braeden.
Toby Wilson grew up in Shields and went to Dighton High School. He graduated from Pratt Community College with an Associates Degree in 1992 and transferred to Fort Hays State University. Wilson began work with the Dighton Coop in April of 1994 as second man at the Dighton Elevator. From 1997-2007, Wilson was the location manager of the Shields Elevator. Upon the merger with the Garden City Co-op, Wilson took the role of Dighton Operations Manager from 2007-2009. He then became Elevator Superintendent from 2009-2012. In 2012, Wilson became the Chief Operations Officer for the Garden City Co-op.
Chris Wagner grew up in the Garden City area. He graduated from Chadron State College in Nebraska with a Bachelors degree in Business Administration and a Minor in Finance. Wagner began his career at the Co-op in 2007 as an Elevator Manager. His other roles have included Grain Accountant and Ulysses Area Manager. Wagner completed his Master of Agribusiness at Kansas State University in 2013. “I’m really excited to take on the role and the challenges as Vice President of Grain for the Garden City Co-op and I feel incredibly fortunate to have been able to learn under Ken Jameson all these years and look forward to helping the members of the Garden City Co-op in any way I can,” said Wagner. Chris oversees 20 grain elevators and 3 offices that handle your grain merchandising needs.
Lakin Dreiling oversees the energy division of the Co-op which is now focused on commercial fuel sales, transport deliveries, bulk oil & packaged oil sales and deliveries. Lakin was born and raised in Scott City, Kansas where he was active in 4-H and showing cattle. He graduated from the University of Kansas with a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry and a Minor in Business. Prior to working for the Garden City Co-op, he had managed a chemical iodine plant. Lakin began his career with the Garden City Co-op in September 2013 in petroleum sales. He later moved over to help in the precision ag department, of which he helped to develop and implement during his time in that position. Lakin became the Vice President of Petroleum in January 2017, taking over for the previous V.P., Pete Maestas, upon his retirement. Lakin and his wife Marissa reside in Holcomb and are members of the First United Methodist Church in Garden City.
Tim is the Vice President of the Agronomy Division. Tim started with the Garden City Co-op in February 2006 as a Sales Manager at Lowe. He became Vice President of Crop Production in April 2007. Before coming to the Garden City Co-op, Tim worked and owned a farm for 21 years. He then worked for ADM for seven years, the last two were as Manager of the Shallow Water Elevator. Tim offices out of the Garden City Crop Production Office.
Holly grew up in the town of Fay, Oklahoma, a small town Northwest of Oklahoma City, graduating from Thomas-Fay-Custer High School in Thomas, OK. Holly attended Northwestern Oklahoma State University in Alva, OK where she graduated with a B.S. degree in Psychology. She began working for Sullivan Inc. in 1999 in Ulysses as scale help during wheat harvest in the summer. Cowan didn't intend to stay but the harvest temp help position turned into a full time job and she became more involved in grain accounting, accounts receivable, and accounts payables. While she was growing up, Cowan's parents had operated a custom harvest crew and the family would travel from Texas to North Dakota every summer; an experience that made an impact on Cowan and would ultimately lead to her staying instead of pursuing other career paths. Sullivan, Inc. was purchased by GCC in 2006 and the GCC Crop Production accounting responsibilities were also added to Cowan's list of assigned tasks. In 2019, Holly took over as the Human Resources and Administrative Services Manager upon the retirement of Caroline Duvall. Her twenty previous years in the accounting department has given her a lot of experience with the co-op, particularly in grain and crop production accounting. Holly married her husband Daron, who also works in the ag industry, in 1998. They live in Ulysses with one daughter, Lily. Holly is a coach for her daughter's Odyssey of the mind team, active in her 4-H projects and volunteers at her church. She also enjoys cooking, shopping and home projects. She will graduate with her Master's Degree in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from Kansas State University December 2019. Cowan states that the best part of working for the co-op is "The great people / coworkers and the farmers."
Michael Davis graduated from Southwestern Oklahoma State University with a Bachelors degree in Computer Science and a minor in Mathematics. He then attended Texas A&M University's Master in Visualization Sciences program. Michael began working with the Garden City Co-op in 2010 as the IT Developer where he designed, created, and maintained data and software solutions for the Co-op. In 2016 he became the IT Manager where he and his staff are responsible for the current and future technological needs of the Co-op. Michael resides in Scott City with his wife Alicia and daughter Payton
Grant Geyer has been the safety director at the Garden City Co-op since June of 2016. He previously worked as a Grain Elevator Manager for the Co-op at their Lowe facility.
He currently resides in Garden City, Kansas with his wife Landi and 2 dogs. He is sports fan who loves the Royals and Chiefs and still plays recreationally when time allows. Born in Garden City and raised in Leoti, Kansas he is proud to live close to home and work as the Safety Director for the Garden City Co-op.