Courtney has been a lifelong resident of Nebraska. His career began at Hi-Line Cooperative in Elsie NE, with direct sales to growers, after graduating from the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture, with a degree in Crop Production.​

Courtney’s roles and responsibilities at Hi-Line increased from Market Manager to Agronomy Manager to CEO, where he was responsible for all aspects of crop nutrient, energy/fuel and protection procurement, establishment of sales programs and setting the vision with the Board. Under his leadership, Coop member equity grew from $27M to $42.6M, including two record earnings year in a row in years ended 2021 and 2022. He began at Elevar Agri-Solutions in December of 2022.​​