BORDON — The Borden Co-op held their annual supper and meeting April 18 in the Borden Community Centre, with about 90 enjoying a supper catered to by the Borden Lions.
Chairman for the meeting was Jamie Brandrick with Diane Tracksell as recording secretary.
A tribute was given to the late John Buswell who had served as chairperson for the meetings or on the board for more 20 years. A framed photo of John at the podium was presented to Miriam Buswell. A small gift was also given to Ruben Rempel, who had served as recording secretary since1992.
Board president Luke Walker reminisced about the Borden Co-op with his memories going back to 4-H days. He worked for the Co-op as a summer student and joined the board 10 years ago as a 21-year-old. He has been president since 2014.
Walker said the local Co-op needs member support more than ever as more than $3 million from the Borden area was spent in Saskatoon in 2017. He said the word needs to be spread that the Borden Co-op can supply garage packages, fencing, fuel, groceries and more.
Cathy Lemerich from MNP Accounting reported the Co-op has total assets of $2,254,070, liabilities of $50,941, share capital of $877,829 and reserves and retained savings at $1,325,300.
Sales were up at $3,161,178 with cost of goods sold at $2,827,196, for a gross margin of $333,982. Expenses were $440,451, patronage refunds totalled $167,255, leaving a net savings of $56,337.
Manager Rob Schmidt, who started his job in February of 2018, congratulated Borden Co-op on having a profitable 2017 during Borden Co-op’s 103rd year of operation.
He said the operation will be looking closely in the upcoming months at items that do not sell well, will investigate consolidating the two stores and possibly creating more storage at the cardlock fuel location.
In 2018 sales are up over 10 per cent and more new memberships have been sold than all of last year, Schmidt reported.
He added the Co-op just needs support from all of its members and new people moving into the area need to be informed about the Co-op.
FCL director Randy Graham brought greetings from FCL which is the largest business in Saskatchewan and 56th largest in Canada. He said new high-output fertilizer plants have been built and new regulations will be drafted regarding the environment, emissions and carbon footprint.
FCL recorded more than $1 billion in agricultural sales in 2017.
Board member Darrel Wiebe thanked Luke Walker and Gary Nickel for nine years on board and presented them with gift certificates. He presented the names of Julia Orchard, Justin Block and Brett Larsen to join the board and with no further nominations they were acclaimed for three-year terms. Also on the board are Roy Saunders, Glenn Sutherland and Darrel and Diane Tracksell.
Door prizes were handed out to Scott, David and Michelle Sutherland, Bob Krueger, Archie Wainwright, Dave Meakin, Ken Tanchak, Sandy Long, Florence Neufeld, Jim and Lorraine Olinyk, Ron Mills, Velora Friesen, Martha Rempel, Treyton Schmidt and Ted Mandziak. A $200 Co-op gift card went to Ann Brand.
