BRIEFS CHS Grain Provides Korean Firsts Daewoo Logistics, a subsidiary of multinational Daewoo International, has become the first South Korea–based company to source and distribute grain within its own borders with the help of CHS. CHS representatives Rick Browne, Mark Sackmaster and Brian Schouvieller visited Daewoo headquarters in November 2007, following the first feed corn shipment in September. The event marked a first for CHS, too, which had previously moved grain to South Korea only through other trading companies. CHS expects to ship 1 million tons of corn to South Korea each year for use as livestock feed. Other opportunities may arise for non-GMO corn and soybean sales. “With credit to Sang Kang Lee of Daewoo and CHS Merchandiser Jason Marthaler, this part-nership, which was put together in a relatively short period of time, has already enhanced grain trading value for stakeholders of both companies,” says Browne, senior vice president, Grain Marketing. Community Care Each year, CHS locations and employees in its 26-state trade territory volunteer hun-dreds of hours to commu-nity projects and countless more hours to local schools, churches, fire departments and other organizations. The CHS Seeds for Stew-ardship program, kicked off in 2007, delivers an extra boost to the community ac-tion of nearly 400 CHS busi-ness locations. Employees at those locations can apply for stipends of up to $500 for local volunteer expenses. Employees at the CHS grain-unloading facility at Friona, Texas, made good use of the new opportunity when Seeds for Stewardship funded their participation in the community’s annual cheeseburger cook-off. And after being named grand champions, the group donated the $500 prize back to the community to help continue the event, which draws visitors from miles around. Keep the Home Fires Burning For three days in mid-December, a western Minnesota cooperative helped keep households and businesses in two communities warm and fully functioning. When Xcel Energy needed to shut down its Lowry, Minn., substation to repair damage from a summer lightning storm, the region’s elec-tricity provider turned to Prairie Lakes Co-op, based at Starbuck, Minn., to fuel two huge diesel generators. The workhorse equipment provided power to Starbuck and nearby Lowry from early Friday through Sunday evening, Dec. 14–16, thanks to 4,180 gallons of Cenex ® Wintermaster ® premium diesel fuel supplied by Prairie Lakes. Steve Gorder, right, Prairie Lakes energy division manager, chats with Tim Bickford, Xcel substation maintenance engineer, during one of the co-op’s three-times-a-day fuel delivery runs.