Inducted: 2012
CEO (retired), of GROWMARK, Inc.
Throughout his career at GROWMARK, Davisson never lost sight of the organization's vision to be the best agricultural cooperative system in North American and its mission to improve the long-term profitability of its member-owners. Beginning as a CPA in the Finance Division, he took progressively more responsible positions until his selection as CEO in 1998, a position he held until his retirement in 2010. As CEO he put the focus on sales and improvement in operations and lead GROMARK through a period of strong growth, including the top three incomes years in the cooperative's history. He recognized the value of co-op partnerships and joint ventures in an increasingly competitive industry and he partnered with member co-ops to create an innovative co-op structure that has led to improved cash patronage flow back to GROWMARK members. He has also been a long time advocate for the co-op movement and his support for education included funding co-op education at land grant universities, support of the Graduate Institute of Cooperative Leadership (GICL), and the development of a leadership program at Illinois State University for high-potential employees.