In early 2007, Great Lakes Cooperative's (hereafter GLC) board of directors and CEO held meetings with its membership to lay out the terms of a merger agreement with—a sale to, rather—Green Plains Renewable Energy (hereafter GPRE). The agreement was the result of months of discussions between representatives from GLC, a farmer-owned grain and farm supply cooperative, and GPRE, an investor-owned ethanol producer. What would ultimately lead to the merger of the two companies began as discussions about grain origination for GPRE's ethanol plant.