Background & Experience
Jon Davis is a Director of NAI Legacy and an active entrepreneur and owner in several Twin Cities companies, including CoV Restaurant in Edina’s Galleria. Jon has over 30 years of business ownership and operational experience including serving in several executive capacities for Le Sueur, Minnesota based Davisco Foods International.
Jon started his career with Davisco while in high school, working in all capacities at the company’s Le Sueur factory. In the early 1990s Jon moved to Jerome, Idaho to oversee the development and operation of a major cheese plant for Davisco. In 1999, Jon took over the operational management of Davisco’s dairy processing operations, which included the oversight of plants in Idaho, South Dakota, and Minnesota. In 2003, Davisco built a state-of-the-art cheese plant in Lake Norden, South Dakota, which was awarded the United States Dairy plant of the year in 2005 by Dairy Foods magazine. In 2012, after thirteen years as the Chief Operating Officer of Davisco, Jon was named Chief Executive Officer, succeeding his father, Mark. In 2014, Jon spearheaded the sale of Davisco to Agropur, Canada’s largest dairy cooperative. At the time of the sale, Davisco had over $1 billion in annual sales and over 900 employees. After the sale, Jon continued with Agropur as an Executive Vice President until 2017.
Since leaving Agropur, in addition to overseeing his existing businesses, Jon has actively invested in several commercial real estate investments. Throughout his career, Jon has been active in the dairy industry, serving on multiple boards throughout the 1990s and 2000s. He served as Secretary, Vice President and Chairman of the National Cheese Institute from 2002-2013. He was Vice-Chairman of the International Dairy Foods Association in 2011, after serving as Secretary and Treasurer of that organization for four years. Jon continues to analyze opportunities to return to the Dairy Industry now that his covenant not to compete has expired, along with continuing to delve into non-dairy investments.
Jon is from St. Peter, Minnesota and graduated from St. Peter High School in 1988. Jon competed in various sports throughout high school. He attended the College of St. Thomas and graduated in 1992 with a double major in finance and marketing.