Petersen To Be Honored with Co-op Hall of Fame Induction

Sheldon Petersen, who served as CFC’s CEO from 1995 to 2021, will receive the cooperative community’s highest honor next year when he is inducted into the Cooperative Hall of Fame.

During Petersen’s tenure as CEO, CFC transformed from a $7 billion program lender to a $27 billion financial services provider and adviser that offers unparalleled expertise, flexibility and responsiveness for its member-owners. 

Born and raised in western Iowa, Petersen started his cooperative career in 1976 as a staff assistant with Nishnabotna Valley Electric Cooperative in Harlan, Iowa. In 1980, he became general manager of Rock County Electric Cooperative Association in Janesville, Wisconsin, a role that enhanced his understanding of the challenges that rural electric cooperatives faced in serving the needs of rural residents. In 1983, Petersen joined CFC as an area representative, where he provided financial management consultation services to rural electric cooperatives in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Montana and the Dakotas. 

Petersen Rises Through CFC Ranks to Become CEO

After holding other positions of increasing responsibility at CFC, Petersen became CEO in 1995, where he established a strategic vision for CFC to be electric cooperatives’ “most trusted financial resource.” Under his leadership, CFC helped to preserve and strengthen cooperatives that would otherwise not exist, while cultivating a culture of innovation that saw CFC develop new financing programs to expand credit options and keep costs low for rural electric cooperatives and their communities. These innovations included the cooperative sector’s first-ever sustainability bond to finance renewable energy and broadband initiatives to benefit rural communities. 

Petersen also actively supported the formation of new electric cooperatives, such as Kaua’i Island Utility Cooperative in Hawaii, the first electric cooperative in the Aloha State. Petersen’s support of new cooperatives also meant CFC became a committed supporter of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Cooperative Development Centers, which focus on providing technical assistance to help develop new, as well as support existing cooperatives. 

A key part of Petersen’s legacy is his efforts to promote the cooperative business model through education. He not only greatly expanded the influence and reputation of cooperatives on Wall Street through his education efforts, but also significantly increased the annual allocations to the CFC Educational Fund, totaling $15 million. He also established the National Cooperative Services Corporation (NCSC) Cooperative Youth Education Grant Program in 2009, which has allocated more than $1 million to assist statewide associations in promoting cooperative education to youth in their state. 

Understanding that electric cooperatives were the perfect vehicle for bringing electricity and economic development to rural areas in foreign lands, Petersen also ensured that CFC and its affiliate, NCSC, became a major supporter of NRECA International’s efforts to bring electricity to remote communities around the globe.   

“Sheldon Petersen is a cooperative leader in a class by himself,” CFC Board President Bruce Vitosh said. “It would be impossible to calculate the value of his contributions to CFC and rural communities across the U.S. He is most deserving of induction into the Cooperative Hall of Fame.”

2023 Cooperative Hall of Fame Class

Joining Petersen in the 2023 Cooperative Hall of Fame class are Linda Leaks, co-founder of Ella Jo Baker Intentional Community Cooperative and past executive director of WISH; Leslie Mead, past executive administrator for the Association of Cooperative Educators (ACE) and past executive director of the Cooperative Development Foundation; Maurice Smith, CEO of Local Government Federal Credit Union (LGFCU); and the late Halena Wilson, cooperative organizer, educator and advocate. Wilson will be inducted posthumously and recognized with the 2023 Unsung Cooperative Hero award. The formal induction ceremony will take place at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., on October 5.