CORRECTION In the Oct. 9 issue of ASA's Weekly Leader Letter, a story incorrectly announced the State Level 1 top recruiters for the 2014 membership year, with Jeff Sollars in second place and John Simon in third. Correction: Doug Toreen (MN) is second with 60 members recruited and Jeff Sollars is third with 57 recruits. ASA apologizes for the error and congratulates all of the recruiters on their hard work and dedication to building ASA membership.: 

ASA thanks and congratulates member recruiters for another outstanding year! Membership for 2014 held steady at 22,265 active members.

“ASA appreciates all of the efforts of our recruiters and state associations in telling ASA’s story and engaging soybean producers,” said Bob Worth, ASA Membership and Corporate Relations Committee Chairman, “We look forward building on our past successes and even stronger membership in 2015.”

Our top recruiters for 2014, three from Level 1 (1,000 + members), three from Level 2, (300 to 999 members), and three from Level 3 (50 to 299 members) were the drivers that helped ASA cap off a good year.

Robert Nelsen (Minnesota) earned top recruiter for Level 1 with 156 members recruited. Robert was also the top recruiter for Level 1 in 2013. Doug Toreen (Minnesota) is second with 60 members. Jeff Sollars (Ohio) placed third with 57 members recruited.

Marvin Wahl (Kansas) earned the top recruiter for Level 2 for recruiting 135 members. This is also Marvin’s second year as top recruiter for his division. Jerome Schmitz (South Dakota) placed second with 106 members recruited and Harvey Morken (North Dakota) placed third with 73 members recruited.

Tommy Hines (Virginia) earned the top spot for Level 3 with 113 members recruited. Hines is a six-time winning recruiter for Level 3 (2009 – 2014). Tommy has recruited more than 315 during this time. Todd Dumond (New York) and James Robertson (Mississippi) tied with 15 members recruited.

ASA also is excited to announce that North Dakota is a dual winner of the State Association Award. North Dakota was the state with the highest overall membership growth with a 179 member increase and the state with the highest overall percentage increase with a 26 percent increase.

Nelsen, Wahl and Hines, along with a representative from North Dakota will be honored at the ASA Awards Banquet during Commodity Classic in Phoenix, Ariz. on Friday, Feb. 27, 2015.