New Executive Vice President of Operations Announcement

West Des Moines, IA – November 10, 2021: Heartland Co-op announced today that William “Bill” G. Chizek has been selected as the cooperative’s Executive Vice President of Operations. Chizek, who has served as the Director of Safety and Compliance at Heartland Co-op since July of 2005 will succeed Marc Melhus who has served as EVP of Operations since July of 2007.

Prior to joining Heartland Co-op in 2002, Bill worked for Farmers Co-op Exchange in Prairie City from 1989 to 2002 in the Feed department, Human Resources, and Safety. Bill also was a High School Agriculture Teacher for three years before starting his cooperative career. Bill will assume his new role effective January 1, 2022.
The Heartland Co-op Senior Team feels very fortunate to have the talent on staff to fill this very important role from within our employee team.
“I am very excited to accept this new challenge and continue my career with Heartland Co-op,” said Chizek. “I have already enjoyed my time at Heartland Co-op. The drive from Tom down, through all the employee team, to create growth and profitability for our members, has been incredible to be a part of. I look forward to continuing my work with the Heartland employees and membership in my new role as Executive Vice President.”
Chizek grew up in Britt, Iowa on a crop and livestock farm. He graduated from Iowa State University with an Agricultural Education degree. He and his wife, Karen, live in Prairie City where they raised six children and now have the joy of  watching 13 grandchildren grow.

Heartland Co-op (www.heartlandcoop.com) has corporate offices located in West Des Moines, Iowa and consists of a total of 75 locations in Iowa, Nebraska, Texas and New Mexico. The organization serves more than 6,200 members with operations in grain handling and marketing, fertilizer and application, agriculture chemicals and application, livestock feed and processing,agriculture energy products, and propane.