After serving as the general manager at Two Rivers Cooperative for nearly 23 years, Tracy Gathman is set to retire at the end of February.

Gathman moved to the area in December of 1997 and served as the general manager since the Otley/Monroe Co-op and Farmers Co-op of Pella merged to form Two Rivers on April 1st, 2001. Reflecting on his time with the company, Gathman says that he has appreciated his staff’s efforts to make their operations successful.

“Without them, I can’t do this. It’s not me, it’s them. And they’re still gonna be here to serve the farmer and serve the customer long into the future. All I could do was give them my insight as to what I thought was best and then they had to do the work. I had to get out of the way and allow them to do that. That’s why I believe this company will be strong moving forward. It’s not about me, it’s about my staff, it’s about the employee group that’s been around here that has supported me for the last 26 years, and they will be the ones that will drive this moving forward as well.”

The public is invited to attend a retirement open house for Gathman on Wednesday, February 28th from 2-6 pm at the Two Rivers Cooperative location in Pella. Hear more from Tracy Gathman about his impending retirement on today’s In Touch with South Central Iowa.