Dennis A. Johnson
Dennis A. Johnson was appointed as an original member of UMAEF in 1994, and Elected Board Chairman in 1999. He is a Member of the Investment Committee and Audit Committee for over 10 years.
Dennis A. Johnson is President and Co-Owner of Cooperative Housing Resources, LLC, a lender and consultant specializing in the development and finance of senior housing cooperatives. He manages the origination process for financing multifamily senior housing cooperative projects – seventy applications for over $400 million for new mortgage financing and refinancing. Dennis provides strategic consulting services for senior housing cooperative development, including the development and implementation of long-term plans.
He is also the Project Coordinator for the Senior Cooperative Housing Education Program and serves as a trainer for various modules within the program. Additionally, Dennis offers marketing services to several senior housing cooperatives.
He is an experienced executive with strong skills in finance, credit, and business development. Through domestic and international experience he has outstanding business acumen and leadership abilities. Dennis directed bank operations, with a focus on development and implementation of strategic, business and financial plans; implemented action plans that transitioned from joint management and a common board to achieve an independent organization (as required by the Agricultural Credit Act of 1987); increased outstanding loan volume from $1.4 billion to $3.7 billion; facilitated development of new cooperatives in value added initiatives; and, led major strategic planning projects, resulting in recommendation to merge with Cobank.
As a highly successful executive with the Farm Credit System, he held a variety of positions from credit analyst to President and CEO of the St. Paul Bank for Cooperatives.
At Farm Credit System he delivered credit, related services, and overall credit administration of a $1.5 billion portfolio to agricultural cooperatives and agricultural credit companies; directed business relationships which focused on marketing, risk management and financial performance with Farm Credit Associations with an $8-10 billion loan portfolio. He was a Key member of the Planning Team, Executive Committee, and Asset/Liability Management Committee, successfully directing financial performance activities. Directed team to manage rapidly deteriorating credit portfolio to achieve financial stability. Implemented restructuring plan, which reduced number of associations and brought them into joint management with common territories. Appointed project manager for implementation of Agricultural Credit Act of 1987 (Ensured compliance, required changes and successfully implemented mergers of various components).
He received a Bachelor of Agricultural Business Administration from the University of Minnesota in 1971 and a Master’s Degree in Agricultural Economics in 1973. In May 1996, he received the Outstanding Alumni Award from the University of Minnesota’s Department of Applied Economics.
Dennis is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ukraine-Moldova American Enterprise Fund. In addition, Dennis is Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Senior Cooperative Foundation and a member of the Board of Directors of Cooperative Development Services. He has previously served as a member of the Board of Directors of Farm Credit Leasing Services Corporation, Homestead Housing Center, Federal Farm Credit Banks Funding Corporation, National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, and Cooperative Development Foundation.
Mr. Johnson is a member of the American Agricultural Economics Association.
