| Co-op members hear benefits of amalgamation at meeting |
 |
 |
 |
| Local Content - Local News |
| Written by publisher |
| Tuesday, 02 February 2010 15:42 |
|
By Marcia Love Consul’s meeting saw a nearly-full house, while more than 50 people attended the Maple Creek meeting at the Armoury to hear the proposed solution to the Southwest Co-op’s unoccupied general manager position. Allain DeGagne, Pioneer Co-op branch manager opened the meeting by addressing the reason behind the proposed amalgamation. “One of the reasons we are looking at this merger is because of a lack of skilled management,” he said, referring to the Southwest Co-op’s general manager position, which has been vacant since December 2007. “Skilled people are hard to find.” Derald Ahner, a member of the Southwest Co-op board, said he feels the amalgamation is the best option for the co-op. “We felt that we did the best we could to find a manager, and we lack purchasing power,” he said. “We didn’t feel this was the perfect alternative, but it’s the best one that we could come up with.” The Southwest Co-op has seen a local loss of $150,000 to $300,000 per year for the past few years. DeGagne said the Pioneer Co-op has no long-term debt, and can offer stability. The merger would allow Southwest Co-op to see savings of about $365,000 per year. He noted the Southwest Co-op is seeing an increased cost of providing service to its members. Currently, Southwest Co-op has 2,815 members, while Pioneer Co-op has 17,960. DeGagne said the merger would provide shared services and increase member equity. Historically, Pioneer Co-op has had higher allocation rates and cash back programs than Southwest Co-op, which means members get larger refunds at the end of the year. As an example, if a family were to spend $15,708 at Southwest Co-op in one year, it would see an alocation of $429. Similarly, if a family were to spend the same amount at Pioneer Co-op in a year, it would see an alocation of $821. “It will provide the member with a greater variety of products within the larger entity,” DeGagne said. “We want to partner with like-minded co-ops, and both Pioneer and Southwest have a lot of the same commodities.” Pioneer Co-op has already amalgamated with other co-ops, including Frontier three years ago and Ponteix seven years ago. There is also a new store being built in Kyle. Stu Dyrland, general manager of Pioneer Co-op, told members their input would be considered in regards to store renovations and additions. “It’s your co-op and you’re the ones who are going to tell us what to do,” he said. “If you can convince the board that it’s the right thing to do, we’re there to run it.” Raymond and Holly Peterson came from Tompkins to attend the amalgamation meeting, and showed their concern about the proposed merger. “We lost our Pioneer Co-op in Tompkins a few years back and now it’s privately owned,” Raymond said, who has been a Pioneer member for 37 years and a Southwest member for eight. “It concerns me. I started coming to Maple Creek because I thought it was a great locally-owned co-op.” Holly Peterson said she has mixed feelings about it. “Bigger isn’t always better is my way of looking at it,” she said. Peter Sehn, director of the Southwest board, said he believes the amalgamation is the right way to go. “I think we’re better able to challenge our competition with Pioneer as a partner,” he said. “We’re much better off together than we are alone.” Paul Heglund, who was at the Consul meeting, said some people who attended the session were still against the amalgamation. “We were suspicious, but we came away quite well-informed,” said Heglund. There will be no job losses as a result of the proposed merger. Members’ equity with either co-ops will not be affected by the proposed amalgamation. Members of both co-ops will have their equity combined under one number. The vote meeting will take place in Maple Creek at the Armoury on Feb. 22 at 7:00 p.m. Southwest Co-op members will be able to vote for or against the proposed amalgamation, which requires 67 per cent of those voting to vote in favour for the merger to pass. Pioneer Co-op members also will have to vote on whether or not they want the amalgamation to proceed. If the amalgamation is passed, it will come into effect Jan 31, 2011.
Maple Creek’s locally-owned Southwest Co-op may soon be merging with Pioneer Co-op. Members attended an information meeting on the proposed amalgamation on Jan. 26, and will be voting for or against it on February 22. Photo by Marcia Love |
More Story Headlines
| Excellent health care appreciated Dear Editor, |
| Wayne's World - No need for a gas mask By: Wayne LitkeJudging from air and dust tests conducted at Maple Creek Hospital, it appears airborn [ ... ] |
| Young curlers to practise with world's best By Marcia Love |
| Unsworths advance to Nationals with U of S Huskies By Marcia Love |