Hall of Fame 2022

HALL OF fame
With a quiet superpower to
listen, analyze and consider
many angles before
making decisions, Mike Skokan was
instrumental in guiding Hy-Vee’s success
throughout his outstanding 35-year
career. Across his variety of corporate
auditing, accounting and financial roles,
his problem-solving skills allowed the
company to deliver on its promise to
make lives easier, healthier and happier.
journey, the experience gave him
valuable perspective about how
the company treated employees.
“The years working in retail were
invaluable,” he explains. “Not only did it
help me know that I wanted to continue
to work for Hy-Vee, but it also gave me
the perspective that helped me try to
make the best decisions for employees
and customers down the road.”
president Ric Jurgens, as well as current
chairman and CEO Randy Edeker.
One transformative project Skokan took
on in the early 2000s was transitioning
all stores from a third-party payment
system to an in-house system. This
move allowed the company to choose
where to process transactions, creating
streamlined payments and efficiencies
that benefited Hy-Vee directly. The
system is still operational today.
Skokan was an impactful and respected
leader at Hy-Vee. He carefully and
efficiently guided the company in
protecting the interests of its employees
while also pushing for unparalleled
growth. He retired from his role as
executive vice president, CFO and
treasurer in December 2021.
“I believe in working hard, focusing on
the job in front of you and letting the
rest take care of itself,” he says. “We
have a solid team in place that won’t
miss a beat as I move into retirement.”
PERSPECTIVE FROM RETAIL,
PASSION FOR ACCOUNTING
Hard work has been a common thread
throughout Skokan’s life. Growing
up, his parents both demonstrated a
strong work ethic and commitment
to volunteering. He watched his
father build a business as a certified
public accountant (CPA) in West Des
Moines, and his mother stayed home
to raise Skokan and his younger
brother, later working as a paralegal
in a local law office once the boys
were grown. In their free time, the
Skokans enjoyed spending time at
their family’s farm outside of Newton.
When Skokan turned 16 years old, he
took a part-time courtesy clerk and
checker-stocker job at the West Des
Moines Grand Avenue Hy-Vee. He
continued to work part time at the Cedar
Falls store while studying accounting
at the University of Northern Iowa
(UNI). Even though working retail
was only a few years of his Hy-Vee
While Skokan was inspired by his dad’s
career as a CPA, he always wanted to
forge his own path in the profession.
Upon graduating from UNI in 1992 and
earning his certified public accountant
license, he weighed public and private
accounting career options. He ultimately
decided to take an internal auditing
position with Hy-Vee Corporate
in Chariton, where the company
was headquartered at the time.
Skokan says it was during these early
years in the auditing department that he
learned the importance of relationships,
especially on a team. His manager at
the time, Juli Hurst (Egeland) taught
him valuable lessons in understanding
people’s motivations and how to
navigate interpersonal relationships.
Hy-Vee relocated its headquarters
to West Des Moines in 1995, and
later that year Skokan moved to the
company’s accounting department. In
the coming years, he rose through the
financial ranks, taking on a variety of
positions and seizing opportunities to
gain a bigger picture point of view.
“I wasn’t siloed into just looking at debits
and credits,” he explains. “They gave
me involvement across all aspects of
the company so I could understand
how things worked together and
contribute on a higher level.”
He also got the opportunity to
learn about leadership from former
chairman, CEO and president Ron
Pearson, former chairman, CEO and
“I’ve always enjoyed a challenge. No
matter the project, failure was
not an option,” he explains.
VISION FOR EMPLOYEE BENEFITS
In 2011, Skokan was named senior
vice president, CFO, treasurer and a
permanent member of the Hy-Vee
Board of Directors. In 2013, he was
elected to executive vice president,
CFO and treasurer. In these leadership
roles, he was especially influential in
shaping employee benefits. He took
to heart the words of Jurgens, “If you
have the ability to do good, then you
have a responsibility to do good.”
Skokan helped champion a variety of
employee-centric initiatives, including
offering expanded parental leave,
expanding benefits coverage to parttime
employees and implementing a
10% employee discount. For decades he
worked diligently to shape the company’s
401(k) plan, evolving benefits and
matching and vesting programs to ensure
it is a sustainable retirement benefit for
employees. He also implemented several
bonuses to recognize performance
at all levels across the company.
“We want to be sure Hy-Vee is the best
place to work so we can attract and
retain the best employees,” he says.
“Creating a secure, competitive job for our
employees was always at the forefront
of my decisions and recommendations.”
This sentiment also applies to how
he treated his co-workers and team
members over the years. He always
emphasized the importance of family,