The Stoughton Co-op hosted its Annual General Meeting on Thursday, April 20. The meeting began with a dinner held prior to the start of presentations and discussions.
Although overall the Stoughton Co-op reported that their 2016 year was down from that of 2017, it was still a very successful year for the Stoughton Co-op.
“I’m very proud to be standing up here,” Deric Reaney, General Manager, stated. “No one was immune to the struggles of the area, but we’ve weathered the storm thanks to the hard work and dedication of the staff.”
Reaney explained that the food store has been struggling due to ease of shopping at box stores when people travel to the city; but, that they have been able to obtain a liquor licence and have been selling liquor since March 6 of this year. They hope that with the added product that the down turn at the food store will stabilize. Décor and upgrades in the liquor section are being planned.
The service centre saw propane sales down, while dollars earned on petroleum were down it was due to the price of gas as consumption of petroleum was still quite high. Improvement to lighting is being planned for the service centre, while paving was supposed to take place at the card lock last fall; but, due to weather will now occur this spring.
Continued operation of the fuel truck will be seen, currently as part of a cooperation of Co-ops working together in this field.
The Benson Card Lock will have its annual BBQ this spring, applications for cards will be available there. Additionally there has been requests for dyed diesel at this location, which management is looking into.
Finally, the C-Store in Stoughton is looking at a possible expansion and while the card lock lot is being paved, they are planning on paving the C-Store parking lot as well.
According to President of the Stoughton Co-op’s report, Ed Young, there were 87 new members to join the cooperative this year. Community is also very important to them, so a total of $8,000 was donated to charities throughout 2016. This includes a donation to Stoughton’s Royal Canadian Legion’s Roof Fundraiser.
Service Awards were also given out to staff including five year recognition to Tyson Wright and Chrissy McMaster; a 20-year service award to Leanne Brown; and a 30-year service award to Reaney. Two service awards were given to board members including a 15-year award to Gerald Knibbs and an 18-year award to Ed Young.
Training Awards were also given out including Excellence in Food Handling to Susan Russell; Multi-Generational Workplace and Leadership Secrets to Reaney; Increasing Personal Effectiveness to Sandra Fortune; Influencing Guest Service and Multi-Generational Workplace to Renea Folk; and Manager It’s More Than a Title and Food Manager One on One Training to Rod Folk.
Re-elected to the board were Darwin Fenn and Elwyn Helmuth. They rejoin President Ed Young (term until 2019), Vice President Tom Breault (term until 2018), Secretary Zandra Slater (term until 2018), and Gerald Knibbs (term until 2019).
