Northwest Farm Credit Services, the Spokane-based federally chartered ag-lending cooperative, has announced that longtime President and Chief Executive Officer Jay Penick will retire at the end of the year, and that Phil DiPofi, chief banking officer of Denver-based CoBank, has been selected to succeed him.

Penick has led Northwest Farm Credit for 21 years, Drew Eggers, the cooperative's board chairman, says.

CoBank, a cooperative that's owned by its customers, sells Farm Credit System securities to national and international investors and provides Northwest Farm Credit and three Farm Credit associations in the northeastern U.S. with wholesale loans and other products and services.

Northwest Farm Credit says DiPofi was instrumental in its reaffiliation with CoBank in 2003 and since then has participated in Northwest Farm Credit's board planning sessions and other meetings.

"Our board conducted an extensive selection process with several excellent candidates, and we are most impressed with Phil's breadth of knowledge and experience," says Eggers.