CANORA — During the week of May 12 to 14, Gateway Co-op held its annual information meetings to review the 2024 fiscal year.
The Preeceville and Sturgis District Meetings were held Monday evening at the Preeceville Community Legion Hall with Board Chair, Lyle Olson chairing the meeting.
Financial report
Heather Prestie, Controller, led the reports with the financial report. She indicated that MNP had been appointed as the auditors for the year, and their audit opinion that the financial statement presents fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of Gateway Co-op as at the year end date of Jan. 31, 2025.
She further reported on the balance sheet indicating that current assets increased approximately $350,000 with the majority of this increase due to an increase in inventory. Members share capital decreased $300,000, which was as a result of the current year allocation being netted with equity repayments of $729,915 that were paid during the fiscal year. Memberships continue to rise with 272 new memberships being sold during the year. Sales decreased to $46,582,455 and margins increased to 17.2 per cent. After operating expenses, the local savings amounted to $42,435. The allocation that was received from Federated Co-operatives Limited totaled $827,400 for a net savings after income tax of $785,268. Approximately $400,000 will be allocated to the membership.
General manager’s report
The next report was presented by General Manager Brad Chambers. He began his report noting that “lower crop yields negatively impacted farm equipment sales”, and the “cyber security incident at FCL impacted the retail’s ability to source product from our regular suppliers.” Chambers made comment on operations at the retail locations noting that cooler and sales floor repairs had been completed during the year at the Buchanan location and cooler upgrades are planned for 2025.
The Deli department in the Canora Food Store continues to drive increased sales in the location with prepared hot and cold food items available for the customers that are “on-the-go.” Chambers also noted how the Co-op has a greater variety of private label food products available since COVID-19. The Preeceville Home Centre continues to see growth in major appliance sales as well as more feed and agro products available in the Ag section, including the recent addition of live chicks.
Construction began in late 2024 on the Sturgis Food Store with Fall 2025 projected for opening. This site will be 11,000 square feet with bakery, meat, and liquor product lines along with “major increases in cooler and freezer products.”
Chair’s report
The final report of the evening was presented by Board Chair, Lyle Olson, who introduced the members of the Board of Directors that were present at the meeting and highlighted the Board’s responsibilities. He covered similar information as previous reports but also reported the allocation rates of 2.0 per cent for petroleum and propane products, 0.5 per cent on food, 0.5 per cent on hardware, lumber and agro, and 0.25 per cent on Liquor. Olson noted that “subsequent to year-end, the board approved an allocation of $399,002 to the membership, $43,492 to statutory reserve and $375,933 to general reserve. Of the $399,002, $157,506 will be paid back in cash to the membership and $27,483 will be paid in withholding tax on behalf of the members.” Members should expect to see equity statements and general repayment cheques distributed between June 9 to 12 in conjunction with barbecue events in each community. Olson noted that the decreased patronage allocation from FCL impacted the dollars available for allocation to Gateway members.
Gateway Co-op has made donations amounting to over $40,000 to local organizations throughout the 2024 fiscal year and referenced the listing of organizations that had been provided with the meeting agenda.
Olson thanked management and staff for the great effort to serve members and thanked the members for their continued support and patronage. He closed by indicating that after serving the membership for 15 years on the Gateway Co-op Board of Directors, he will be stepping down. He reflected on the numerous changes that have occurred within Gateway Co-op during his time on the Board, including the Preeceville Cardlock, the Canora C-Store and Liquor Store, the Home Centre and Preeceville C-Store facility, the upgraded Canora Cardlock, and now the Sturgis Food Store project.
Preeceville district elections
The podium was then turned over to Brad Chambers to complete the election of delegates. The Preeceville District had two three-year term positions and one two-year term position to fill. Michelle Bednarz and Nathan Maier were acclaimed to the three-year terms and Bill Lesko was acclaimed to the two-year term. The Sturgis District had one three-year term position up for election but there was no election as quorum had not been achieved for the Sturgis district. The remaining Preeceville delegates are Robert Lebo and Duane Karcha and the Sturgis delegates are Perry Keller, Carla Keller, Kim McLeod, and Janet Melnick. The evening concluded with a draw for a $500 gift card for each of the districts.
Canora district elections
The Canora district meeting was held at the Rainbow Hall in Canora on Tuesday evening. The reports presented were the same as those in Preeceville the previous evening. The Canora Delegate election was for two three-year terms. Natalia Prokopetz is a new member to the Canora delegate body and Tammy Bobyk is returning to the delegate body. The Canora delegates are Terry Zavislak, Alfonse Trach, and Pat Popoff. The evening concluded with a draw for a $500 gift card.
Buchanan district elections
The final meeting was held Wednesday evening in Buchanan. The election of delegates saw Tammy Senholt acclaimed to the delegate body as returning member. The remaining delegates in Buchanan are Eric Sorestad, Derk Vander Voort, Trish Shewchuk, and Heather Wiebe. A draw for a $500 gift card concluded the evening.
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