A NEW FARMHOUSE CEO

On the eve of the Fraternity’s 118th Founders’ Day, Dave Hansen (Iowa State 90) logged on to Zoom from his home office in Crystal Lake, Illinois, a northwest suburb of Chicago. Excitement and an earnest eagerness are evident in his demeanor as he is about to become the next CEO of FarmHouse International Fraternity.

“I can’t wait to get started,” Dave said. “I certainly hadn’t thought about leading FarmHouse as a career opportunity, but I thought, ‘wow, what an incredible opportunity to give back to an organization that has given so much to me.’”

The Fraternity’s search committee, comprised of John Foltz (Ohio State 79), chair; Riley Bergmann (Illinois 19); Brent Bible (Purdue 93); Corby Fichter (Iowa State 78); Bryce Freeman (Iowa State 93); and Steve Robisky (Illinois State 83), evaluated a strong slate of well-qualified candidates.

Kincannon & Reed, a global executive search firm focused on food and agribusiness sectors, worked closely with the Fraternity CEO search committee throughout the recruitment process. Jon Leafstedt, managing partner, and Jared Spader (Missouri 97), managing director, led the firm’s consulting team for FarmHouse.

The search committee and Kincannon & Reed recommended Dave as the next CEO to the International Executive Board, citing Dave’s extensive professional career in consulting, human resources, operations and financial management, as key skills he would bring to the role. He also brings a personal passion for the Fraternity.

“As an undergraduate, I bought into the mission, vision and values, and they have remained a guide for me in my professional and personal life,” Dave reflected. “I am excited to help ensure the FarmHouse experience is afforded to more young men.”

Strong Bonds Of Brotherhood

A native of Algona, Iowa, Dave was the first in his family to attend college. When he enrolled at Iowa State University, he had not given much thought to the fraternity experience but he knew one man from his hometown, Mike Arndorfer (Iowa State 89), who graduated a year before. Mike contacted Dave, encouraging him to stop by the chapter house if he was interested in learning more.

“I really admired and respected Mike,” Dave recalled. “As soon as I walked into FarmHouse, I felt at home. I was so impressed by the men I met. I was in awe of what they were doing to positively contribute to Iowa State University and to the chapter. I could see and feel the genuine sense of brotherhood they had with and for one another. I knew I wanted to be part of it.”

That night, he was offered a bid. He accepted and the next day three of his new brothers helped him move into the chapter house.

“The value of brotherhood really left a powerful impression on me,” Dave said. “This common focus helped me grow and become a better version of myself and, collectively, we became stronger as a chapter.”

FarmHouse’s commitment of service and community involvement also left an indelible mark on Dave, which continues today. “Everywhere I looked a FarmHouse man was leading or participating on campus,” he stated.

Seeing the impact such volunteer leaders had on the campus community gave him great pride. He often wondered how he could follow their example by channeling his own skills and sharing his leadership abilities to make the environment around him better.

“I had the opportunity to return to my high school to talk about what college was like. My key advice was to get involved on campus — it opens so many doors and I realized it was a core value that had become deeply instilled in me, thanks to FarmHouse.”

REWARDS & CHALLENGES

Following college, Dave began his career in consulting. His roles evolved into operations and more client-facing work where relationship building was paramount to not only understanding the needs of stakeholders, but building teams that could deliver outcomes. As the firm shifted from private ownership to being publicly traded, he was asked to shift his focus to financial management work.

“I’m not an accountant by training, however my financial understanding combined with an attention to partner with business services to drive better outcomes, brought new opportunities to me,” Dave shared.

These new opportunities included tenure at Sears Holdings and Hewlett Packard (HP), where he served as chief financial officer (CFO) of HP’s Americas division, and managed the hemisphere’s $6 billion budget. Regardless of scope or scale of work, Dave always aimed to remain keenly focused on being aware of the needs of his clients, employees and stakeholders in order to deliver brand promises and product results.

This success in C-suite positions also included many challenges, particularly during his time at Sears. He served as CFO of Sears Home Services and later Sears Retail Services Unit, which included all U.S. Sears and K-Mart retail stores.

“When I joined Sears in 2012, I was optimistic there was still an opportunity to save the company,” Dave recalled. “I was so proud to be part of a brand with such a respected history that resonated with so many customers. It was deeply rewarding to learn about the retail sector, which was new to me. But, it also was one of my greatest challenges — our employee and customer base shrank, competition was on the rise and we were not able to provide a great value and brand promise to our customers. Once that happened, it impacted culture and impacted the employee experience. When those factors aligned, we were forced to close.”

Empowering Talent

Underpinning Dave’s professional career has been his empowerment and trust in others, and is part of his leadership philosophy today.

“I fully subscribe to the empowerment of individuals and teams to achieve greater outcomes,” Dave shared. “In my last role as VP of transformation at CDK Global, our success was dependent on empowerment leading to buy-in and ownership. My greatest reward is when I can help others acheive great success.”

Dave recognizes college men need to be prepared to manage their own careers, to feel empowered to take opportunities and be in control of their advancement.

“I want our members to understand the power of building relationships and networks. There isn’t a college class taught on this, that’s where FarmHouse comes in,” he observed. “It is an important skill and one we can help teach, rather than learning on the fly.”

“Young professionals need to learn how to best manage their own careers through continued education, raising their hands for leadership opportunities and be willing to take on new challenges. Much of this happens through networks and existing relationships. Promotions through tenure are a thing of the past,” Dave said.

The Future Of Farmhouse

In addition to preparing students for future careers and empowering them with important skills, Dave is excited about the future of FarmHouse and is eager to explore many of the ideas he has heard from others.

Two areas of importance to him are continued membership growth and how to best leverage the resources the Fraternity has to bring the most value to its members.

“We want to bring the FarmHouse experience to as many young men as possible and we need an aggressive growth mindset for that — in our existing chapters and on new campuses,” Dave shared.

“Growth must happen by being the best version of our mission, vision and values which have served us so well for 118 years. We must also think about how we are living given the world around us today. This is important to carry forward a constructive Fraternity experience for our members and into the future.”

“I’m committed to visiting all of our chapters and have the goal of doing so in the first year, so I can listen and learn about their experience. I’m also excited to meet alumni who are an important part of the Fraternity’s success,” he said.

In closing, Dave shared, “I care about this organization so much. I know we can do great things together in the days and weeks and years ahead, and I look forward to working together to grow our great Fraternity.”

Written by Chad Harris (Iowa State 98).

To watch the full zoom interview with Dave Hansen, visit bit.ly/newFHCEO or scan the QR code.