From The Manager's Desk
Nov 01, 2018
As we wrap up October, the first month of our 126th fiscal year, I’d like to thank all of you for helping make our 125th fiscal year a solid one at your cooperative. Sales for the year will be about $190 million compared to $186 million in 2017. I anticipate our upcoming audit will reflect what we’ve seen all year. The increase in sales will likely be more than offset by the increased cost of operations—fuel, depreciation, and labor costs continue to outpace inflation. Despite the challenges, I’m confident we’ll look back at 2018 and be proud of the performance of the cooperative and its team. I look forward to sharing the results with you in next month’s newsletter. Thank you for the tremendous support that allows us to continue to provide the quality people, products, equipment and services you need for your farm, home, or business.
We have reserved Wednesday, January 16th at the Quality Inn in Mineral Point for this year’s annual meeting. This is the same location we’ve held it the past several years, and we have had a lot of positive feedback about the food and venue. Mark your calendars—more information will follow in the next couple of months. One of the events at the annual meeting each year is the drawing of our scholarship recipients. Please look for more information regarding this on our website. We will also spend some time discussing the potential merger we are exploring with ProVision Partners Cooperative. If you haven’t already, I encourage you to visit their website to learn more about them.
By the time you receive this, daylight savings will have kicked in and my self-diagnosed seasonal affective disorder will start rearing its ugly head. I say self-diagnosed, but I’m pretty sure Maureen and a few of my coworkers would agree. Cold weather is on our doorstep and snow is just around the corner. Please help our staff stay safe by keeping a path to your feed bin, propane or fuel tank clear of snow and ice. Our ACE Hardware in Westby and Do it Best in Mt Horeb have carbon monoxide and fire detectors to help your family stay safe, as well as winter survival things for your car and home---ice melt, sand, shovels, jumper cables, and more. Don’t forget to have your car or truck ready for winter. Our automotive centers can check over your car before the cold weather leaves you stranded. They carry batteries, new tires, antifreeze, etc, and are ready to serve you.
Our propane staff has been working hard to get tanks filled ahead of winter. If you are not a keep-fill route customer, I recommend you call and sign up. It helps our drivers deliver more gallons each day and gets them home earlier each night, while giving you peace of mind and assuring our best applicable volume price. At a minimum please don’t wait until the first snow storm to call in an order. I assure everyone that we will have cold enough temperatures requiring all of us to heat our homes, so why not fill the tank early and check that off the “to do” list?
Over the past 30 years I’ve written about and asked for your support of my beloved Badgers, and now and again the Packers. I’m not sure I’ve ever mentioned the Brewers until the past month or so. Making time the past few weeks to gather with friends and family to watch their remarkable run was something new for me, and I’m guessing a few of you. Unlike football or basketball where there is non-stop action (outside of the endless commercials), I found myself at times nervously hanging on every pitch. This was unexpected, and I was quite shocked by it. I’m pretty sure if I don’t tune in the World Series and instead focus on NCAA and Packer football, I won’t allow the past month to be a gateway to other bad habits like throwing away hours of my life watching an exhilarating 1-0 soccer match. I apologize to those of you who love soccer, but I have an ongoing feud with a close friend over the hierarchy of athletics and it’s time to move the banter to print—NCAA football, NCAA basketball, other football, volleyball, baseball, softball, golf, pro basketball, racing, rugby, lacrosse, bowling, bag toss, lawn jarts, scrapbooking, ………….. soccer. I fear what I do not understand and don’t like grey area, making “stoppage time” and yellow cards a soccer mystery to me.
In a few weeks we will be celebrating Thanksgiving, the beginning of what will be a wild month and a half at your company. Rather than being a fun-filled time of year, holidays can often add stress as we hurry to clean the house for guests, get the chores done to enjoy a sit-down meal, finish the harvest, and more. At Premier, it’s trying to squeeze a week worth of business and deliveries into a tighter window. Thank you in advance for calling in your feed, propane, fuel oil, lumber and other deliveries in advance so our staff can be home to enjoy the holiday. Have a very Happy Thanksgiving.
We have reserved Wednesday, January 16th at the Quality Inn in Mineral Point for this year’s annual meeting. This is the same location we’ve held it the past several years, and we have had a lot of positive feedback about the food and venue. Mark your calendars—more information will follow in the next couple of months. One of the events at the annual meeting each year is the drawing of our scholarship recipients. Please look for more information regarding this on our website. We will also spend some time discussing the potential merger we are exploring with ProVision Partners Cooperative. If you haven’t already, I encourage you to visit their website to learn more about them.
By the time you receive this, daylight savings will have kicked in and my self-diagnosed seasonal affective disorder will start rearing its ugly head. I say self-diagnosed, but I’m pretty sure Maureen and a few of my coworkers would agree. Cold weather is on our doorstep and snow is just around the corner. Please help our staff stay safe by keeping a path to your feed bin, propane or fuel tank clear of snow and ice. Our ACE Hardware in Westby and Do it Best in Mt Horeb have carbon monoxide and fire detectors to help your family stay safe, as well as winter survival things for your car and home---ice melt, sand, shovels, jumper cables, and more. Don’t forget to have your car or truck ready for winter. Our automotive centers can check over your car before the cold weather leaves you stranded. They carry batteries, new tires, antifreeze, etc, and are ready to serve you.
Our propane staff has been working hard to get tanks filled ahead of winter. If you are not a keep-fill route customer, I recommend you call and sign up. It helps our drivers deliver more gallons each day and gets them home earlier each night, while giving you peace of mind and assuring our best applicable volume price. At a minimum please don’t wait until the first snow storm to call in an order. I assure everyone that we will have cold enough temperatures requiring all of us to heat our homes, so why not fill the tank early and check that off the “to do” list?
Over the past 30 years I’ve written about and asked for your support of my beloved Badgers, and now and again the Packers. I’m not sure I’ve ever mentioned the Brewers until the past month or so. Making time the past few weeks to gather with friends and family to watch their remarkable run was something new for me, and I’m guessing a few of you. Unlike football or basketball where there is non-stop action (outside of the endless commercials), I found myself at times nervously hanging on every pitch. This was unexpected, and I was quite shocked by it. I’m pretty sure if I don’t tune in the World Series and instead focus on NCAA and Packer football, I won’t allow the past month to be a gateway to other bad habits like throwing away hours of my life watching an exhilarating 1-0 soccer match. I apologize to those of you who love soccer, but I have an ongoing feud with a close friend over the hierarchy of athletics and it’s time to move the banter to print—NCAA football, NCAA basketball, other football, volleyball, baseball, softball, golf, pro basketball, racing, rugby, lacrosse, bowling, bag toss, lawn jarts, scrapbooking, ………….. soccer. I fear what I do not understand and don’t like grey area, making “stoppage time” and yellow cards a soccer mystery to me.
In a few weeks we will be celebrating Thanksgiving, the beginning of what will be a wild month and a half at your company. Rather than being a fun-filled time of year, holidays can often add stress as we hurry to clean the house for guests, get the chores done to enjoy a sit-down meal, finish the harvest, and more. At Premier, it’s trying to squeeze a week worth of business and deliveries into a tighter window. Thank you in advance for calling in your feed, propane, fuel oil, lumber and other deliveries in advance so our staff can be home to enjoy the holiday. Have a very Happy Thanksgiving.