April 25, 2024

Heartland Co-op part of merger

Not expected to affect Jasper County facilities

By Ty Rushing

Newton’s Heartland Co-op location won’t be affected by its parent company’s recent merger with an eastern Iowa based co-op. Heartland’s merger with United Western Coop became official on Sept. 1. (Ty Rushing)

The merger of one of central Iowa’s largest cooperatives, West Des Moines-based Heartland Co-op, with United Western Coop became official this month.

UWC facilities were located mostly on Iowa’s western borders and it was previously, headquartered in Missouri Valley. Terms of the merger weren’t announced.

Heartland has facilities in several locations in Jasper County, including Newton, Mingo, Prairie City, Kellogg and Monroe. Just last year, it demolished a former facility located in Newburg in the county’s northeastern corner near the Poweshiek County border.

Eric Finch, manager of the Newton location, confirmed the merger won’t affect the services his facility provides.

According to the terms of the merger, UWC’s member-owners will receive an influx of capital from Heartland for new infrastructure, rolling stock and customer service support. All UWC employees will now become Heartland employees.

In addition, UWC’s former territory will now become District K for Heartland. Heartland’s current CEO, Tom Hauschel, will remain in that role.

This merger is the latest in a series of mergers for Heartland. Before this deal became official, the company’s latest expansion was 2013’s merger with Council Bluffs-based Farm Service Company.

After this latest acquisition, Heartland now has 71 locations across Iowa, more than 400 employees and serves more than  5,500 members.

CropLife.com, a website dedicated to tracking ag retail, has Heartland at No. 22 on its list of top large ag retailers and estimates that it has annual revenues between $100 and 499 million.

Contact Senior Staff Writer Ty Rushing at (641) 792-3121 ext. 6532 or at trushing@newtondailynews.com.