David E. Shank (August 21, 1888 – March, 1972)[1] was a founder and, for 40 years, general manager of the Valley of Virginia Cooperative Milk Producers Association.
Among other accomplishments, the Association under Shank developed and marketed Shenandoah's Pride, a prominent milk brand today in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States.
Swift, at that time, collaborated with other producers to manage price volatility[2] (a strategy also practiced by agricultural marketing cooperatives under federal law).
Shank was identified as rising young talent in the company,[3] but decided to move back to Rockingham County to take advantage of high crop prices during World War I.
[4] To address this problem, in 1922, ten Rockingham County farmers, including Shank, formed the Valley of Virginia Cooperative Milk Producers Association, headquartered in Harrisonburg.