The Prince Albert Co-operative Association Limited presented its 2011 annual report the afternoon of March 9 in Marcelin with 16 members in attendance.
Ian Lauder, PA Co-operative Association Ltd board director, called the meeting to order. Operations manager Joe Novokowski read the minutes from the 2011 annual meeting held in Marcelin.
Ian Lauder presented the board of directors' report indicating the achievements of the past year with new construction projects being completed within budget guidelines.
"Many other improvements were made such as new Point of Sale systems in virtually all locations," commented Lauder. "New card readers were installed at our cardlock locations enabling our system to gradually move away from the old style card to the new mag stripe. A major renovation and addition of a new cardlock also took place at Paddockwood, allowing the members in the area access to fuel 24/7."
Lauder continued by commenting that PA Co-op employs an average of 500 employees. Federated Co-operatives Limited (FCL) offered 19 training seminars in Prince Albert with 233 of its employees participating. Some of the courses included eLearning, WHMIS, first Aid/CPR and fire extinguisher training.
Terry Goertz presented the management report.
"Our new 42,000 square foot state of the art food store opened on June 9, 2011," commented Goertz, "and since its opening we have seen sales grow on a weekly basis. Many of our branch locations utilized refrigeration and other assets from the Central Avenue location with most being installed at Paddockwood, Smeaton and Wakaw where major renovations took place."
In summary, the PA Co-operative Association Ltd had a superior year in terms of sales, earnings and patronage refund. It will result in a patronage allocation of 5.75 percent on all products, with the exception of feed, which is one percent. Full-time agronomists were brought on staff at Kinistino, Prince Albert and Shellbrook locations resulting in a positive effect in the agricultural sector.
"The C-Store Division in Prince Albert along with La Ronge Store, Big River C-Store, Big River Lumber, Domremy and Wakaw Lumber all experienced earnings well above budget," explained Goertz.
Goertz also announced a corporate bulk plant and PA Co-op owned cardlock at Shellbrook in 2012. This is being built on 10 acres of land adjacent to Highway 44 and will continue to be developed over the next 3-5 years.
The Prince Albert Co-operative Association Ltd. has grown over the last number of years and is now proud to provide a variety of services to 30,000 members in 13 communities and their surrounding areas. The PA Co-op has 28,120 active members and 2,574 inactive memberships bringing total membership to 30, 694. The board of directors approved 1,946 members in 2011 and credits the increase of membership over 2010 to the opening of the new food store in Prince Albert.
Since its inception in 1940, the PA Co-operative Association Ltd. has paid out over $57.4 million in share repayments and had $2.5 billion in sales with $150.5 million returned as equity. In 2012 withdrawal of equity is expected to be $3.9 million, including the general cash repayment in April.
Operations manager Joe Novakowski provided the statement of operations for the Marcelin branch for the fiscal year ending Oct. 31, 2011.
Sales were at $1,908,702, an increase over the previous year's $1,852,333. The cost of goods remained reasonably constant to the previous year giving 2011 a gross margin of $213,122. Total operating expenses of $258,704 resulted in a net loss of operations of $45,582, which is an increase slightly over 2010; however, Novakowski explained that the Marcelin Co-op underwent the installation of a new retail cash register system at a cost over $12,000. Despite the net loss being up slightly over 2010, without the new system expenditure, the Marcelin branch's net loss would have been less than the previous year. Novakowski commented that he was very happy with the operations of the Marcelin branch.
Novakowski concluded his presentation by acknowledging the many staff who are dedicated to providing personalized shopping experiences that exceed the members' expectations and also to the members who, with their continued support, make the co-operatives the success they are today.
The meeting concluded with the election of officials. Delegate Noella Crowder let her name stand as did committee member Hubert Smith. Local delegates include Noella Crowder, Andrew Neveu and Darryl Valuck. Local committee members are Hubert Smith, Omer Bonin and Annette Butler.
