At the Jan. 13 meeting of the 40 Square Cooperative Solutions Board of Directors, the board voted – due to the ongoing COVID-19 surge variants – to not hold an in-person annual meeting for 2022 for the protecting of our members and potential visitors. The co-op will be providing an annual report by email and…
This recipe comes courtesy of Director of Benefits and Distribution Terri Moxley’s step-mom, who grew up in Pettibone, N.D. Terri makes this banana bread almost weekly in the winter when it’s time to bake, though she admits she swaps chopped nuts for chocolate chips! Instructions: Put in greased bread pan Cook time: Bake at 340…
Leading the Way: 40 Square Begins Fifth Open Enrollment Season 40 Square Cooperative Solutions is first in its class. The organization is proud to be Minnesota’s only agricultural co-op focusing exclusively on providing farm families, agribusinesses, businesses who provide direct support to production agriculture – and their employees – access to self-funded health plan options.…
As open enrollment for 2022 begins, 40 Square has announced we’re hiring! The Sales Relationship Manager is responsible for attaining the 40 Square Cooperative Solutions Membership (co-op) and the associated 40 Square Health sales and marketing objectives on an individual basis, as well as assisting the co-op and MEWA achieving their goals. As a Sales…
Minnesota farmers who want to improve safety on their farms can now apply for funding through two programs from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) that help with the cost of buying, shipping and installing eligible safety equipment. “There’s very little that can comfort a family who has lost someone due to a preventable accident…
Throughout October, 40 Square Cooperative Solutions is celebrating National Co-op month. We are proud of our unique status as the first – and only! – Minnesota agricultural co-op focusing exclusively on health plans for farm families, agribusinesses and their employees through access to self-funded health insurance options. Minnesota is home to more co-ops than any…
Farming has become Therese Romsdahl’s second act in life. After 30 years working in the Minneapolis suburbs as a records supervisor for Shakopee Police Department, Therese married Brian Romsdahl, a lifelong producer in Watonwan County, and reinvented herself as a farmer. “It was a change of life for me, a lot of transitions, but I’m…
Meet the Board: Kevin Lauwagie For Winthrop farmer Kevin Lauwagie, timing is everything. Around 2017, Lauwagie’s small group health policy was cancelled. At the same time, the Minnesota Legislature passed a bill allowing health care cooperatives to offer health plans to farmers, creating the need for 40 Square Cooperative Solutions. “The timing was great for…
Five years ago, exploding health insurance costs forced many employees at Minnesota Pork Inc. (MPI) Farms to forgo coverage. “Previously, we weren’t very capable of providing affordable health care for our employees,” says MPI Business Manager Ashley Winkelman. “A lot of them are 20 and 30 somethings who were going without health care because it…
Eyes on the road this spring April is National Distracted Driving Month. Distracted driving has become a deadly epidemic on our roads. And it involves more than just texting while driving. Distracted driving can include: adjusting the radio, applying makeup, drinking coffee and talking on your cell phone. From April 11 to 15, law enforcement…