Nick Lapaseotes was elected chairman of the Western Sugar Cooperative Board of Directors in January 2013. The Bridgeport, Neb., grower succeeded Kevin Hall, also of Bridgeport, who had served in that capacity since 2003. Ric Rodriguez of Powell, Wyo., remains as WSC's vice chairman.
Lapaseotes, who has been a WSC board member since January 2011, was on the board of the Nebraska Sugarbeet Growers Association from 2001 to 2011 and served as that group's president from 2003 to 2011. He and his brother, Pete, are third-generation farmers, producing sugarbeets, corn, wheat and alfalfa, along with operating a cow-calf operation and feedlot. The Lapaseotes brothers are partners in 21st Century Equipment, which operates several farm implement dealerships in the region. They also are shareholders in Dinklage Feedyards, a commercial cattle feeding operation in eastern Wyoming, western Nebraska and northeastern Colorado.
Lapaseotes and his wife, Angie, have two children, Alexa and Nicholas, both of whom are attending the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.