Cochrane area residents made FAST STOP their first stop at succesful grand opening

Almost 10,000 litres of fuel pumped and 200 donuts consumed during the FAST STOP service centre’s grand opening celebration on Wed. Sept. 21 in beautiful northern Cochrane Ontario.

An official ribbon cutting ceremony kicked off with support from the Mayor of Cochrane Peter Politis, MPP Ramsay’s constituency assistant for the Cochrane District, Paul Latondress and Keven Robin, president of the Cochrane Board of Trade stopped by to say a few words as well as representatives of the station from FS PARTNERS and Co-opérative Régionale de Nipissing Sudbury.

After the ceremony, customers filled up their tanks at reduced prices from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. with a portion of the sales donated to the local Tim Horton Events Centre.

Mario and Mariel Vachon are the owners of the FAST STOP site and long time residents of Cochrane. They were very pleased with the support they received by the community and thrilled to see the long line ups of people that came out to fill up at the reduced prices. “We are very happy with the new FAST STOP branding and the overall look of the station and look forward to working with the FS team. Also, being open 24 hours non-stop along with our convenient location and many amenities, we feel the station is very handy for both local residents and for truckers travelling long distances in northern Ontario,” says Mario Vachon.

Designed for people on the run, customers can purchase fuel 24 hours a day, seven days a week paying with VISA, MasterCard, Interac, and FS Fuel cards. The FS Fuel card allows consumers to be part of a large network of fueling sites across Ontario offering 24-hour convenience with just one card. The Cochrane FAST STOP station offers clear diesel fuel and environmentally friendlier ethanol blended gasolines. The site also features a full-service restaurant, convenient store, laundry facilities, a comfortable lounge area and personal showers. 

This station is part of network of more than 250 FAST STOP branded stations in the United States and now the third in Ontario. Through the Ontario FS Co-operative System, FS PARTNERS and Co-opérative Régionale de Nipissing Sudbury have worked together to provide the newly branded FAST STOP station to the Cochrane area community.



From (L-R) Emile Faddoul, FS PARTNERS energy logistics manager; Paul Lantondress representing MPP Cochrane-Temiskaming (David Ramsey); Keven Robin, president Cochrane Board of Trade, Raymond Savage, general manager Co-operative Regionale de Nipissing Sudbury, Terry Vachon, Cochrane development officer; Mayor of Cochrane, Peter Politis; FAST STOP owners Mariel and Ginette Vachon, Jen and Mario Vachon and their two children, Andrew Troyer, FS PARTNERS sales and marketing manager.



Bigger is better when it comes to grain bins

Mayor Dennis Travale, thanked the Great Lakes Grain and FS PARTNERS team for making Norfolk County “the home to the largest steel grain bin in Ontario” when he spoke to approximately 200 farmers and guests at an open house event in Delhi on Sept 14.

Construction of the newly enhanced grain facility began in May of this year and was completed in September. It can store up to 735,000 bushels or 20,000 metric tons of grain, making it the largest storage capacity for Ontario.

“The intake improvements and new bin is going to dramatically reduce delivery times in harvest season for our farmers,” says Don Kabbes, marketing development manager for Great Lakes Grain. “The reduced congestion and our faster intake speed will allow them to quickly get back on their combines to continue their harvest.”

During a demonstration of the faster intake system at the open house, Devin Homick, Great Lakes Grain Delhi area grain originator, pointed out how the enhancements will move drivers in and out of the facility in half the time. A simple change in driveway access along with additional staging areas for probing, significantly speeds up traffic flow reducing congestion at peak times. Intake time is twice as fast resulting in approximately 44 tonnes of grain dumped in five minutes or nine tonnes per minute.

“This is all part of a three year expansion project with more storage and drying capabilities planned for Delhi and Straffordville in 2012 and 2013,” says Alex Elliott, Great Lakes Grain general manager. Elliott spoke about the power of working together, being farmer owned and making every dollar count for the betterment of the farmer.

Ribbon cutting ceremony -Sept. 14-Delhi
(L-R) Alex Elliott, Great Lakes Grain general manager; Dennis Travale, mayor of Norfolk County; Kim Fysh, GROWMARK director and AGRIS Co-operative director; Ed Benjamins, FS PARTNERS Board of Directors Chair; Don Kabbes, Great Lakes Grain market development manager and Devin Homick, Geat Lakes Grain Delhi area grain originator.

Local youth attend GROWMARK's Annual Meeting

Ed Sauve of Woodslee, Ontario, recently attended the 2011 GROWMARK, Inc. Annual Meeting in Chicago as this year’s youth speaker where he spoke in front of more than 1000 attendees about his views on co-operative leadership. Sauve was one of three young people chosen to take part in the travel opportunity sponsored by GROWMARK.

Also travelling to Chicago was Alissa Goodfellow of Napanee, a 2011 4-H Ontario Ambassador and Sarah McLaren of Courtice, representing Junior Farmers Association of Ontario.

Ed Sauve is a graduate and now a volunteer facilitator at the Ontario Co-operative Association’s Co-operative Young Leaders summer camp program. In his closing remarks in Chicago, Sauve commented on the need to promote co-operatives more than ever especially with 2012 being named by the United Nations as the International Year of Co-operatives.

Ed Sauve was sponsored to attend CYL camp by AGRIS Co-operative based out of Chatham. Attending camp gives young people like Sauve the opportunity to learn about co-operatives and build strong leadership skills through their roles as a facilitator or camp participant.

Each year GROWMARK provides travel opportunities to youth who have shown dedication to leadership development. They travel to Chicago to learn more about GROWMARK and network with business people and other young leaders. As part of their experience, they took part in the annual meeting’s grand opening ceremonies with young leaders from (FFA) also known as Future Farmers of America and had the opportunity to visit the Chicago Board of Trade.

Twelve young represenatatives from FFA and Ontario's Co-op Young Leaders Program, 4-H Ontario
and Junior Farmers' Association of Ontario took part in the
 Colour of Flags opening ceremony at GROWMARK's 2011 Annual Meeting in Chicago in August.

GROWMARK Board of Directors update

Kim Fysh, Thamesville, Ont., was elected to the GROWMARK board of directors at the regional cooperative’s annual meeting in Chicago.

Fysh will serve a three-year term and represent Zone F on the board. He and his wife Merry operate an 1,100-acre grain and vegetable farm with his brother. Fysh currently serves on the board of AGRIS Co-operative.

Ed Benjamins, Moorefield, Ont., has retired from the GROWMARK Board of Directors. He was commended for his years of service at the organization’s 2011 annual meeting in Chicago.

He and his wife Gina operate a chicken farm, and farm 1,000 acres with a son-in-law and operate a trucking company. Benjamins was elected to the GROWMARK board in 2005. He is involved with several cooperative organizations and is chair of the FS PARTNERS board of directors.

Five of the 16 director seats, established by geographic zone, were up for election this year. GROWMARK has six established governance zones which cover all of North America. In addition, one director-at-large represents Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin Farm Bureaus. GROWMARK is affiliated with Farm Bureau in those states.

GROWMARK reports estimated year-end financial results

On Aug. 26 in Chicago, GROWMARK officials reported unaudited, estimated results for the fiscal year that ended August 31, 2011. Jeff Solberg, chief executive officer, announced estimated sales of $8.4 billion for the 2010-2011 fiscal year. GROWMARK net income is estimated to be $182 million.

“2011 was a great year for the GROWMARK System,” Solberg said. “The company generated the highest level of sales and the second highest level of pretax income in company history.”

“These results are attributed to a very strong group of member companies committed to a highly successful cooperative system, supported and served by a great team of very knowledgeable and dedicated employees,” he said.

An estimated $80 million in patronage refunds will be returned to GROWMARK member cooperatives and farmer-owners.