The 79th Annual Stockholders’ Meeting of Western Cooperative Company (WESTCO) took place on Wednesday, December 16. Due to COVID-19 precautions, the meeting was held virtually via Zoom.
Controller Shawn Nelson presented the financial reports for the 2020 fiscal year, showing the cooperative had $115 million in Sales and generated a Net Savings of $6.1 million.
In the Annual Board Report, Chairman Erik Peterson informed members that 2020 was WESTCO’s sixth best year historically and the Board approved Equity
Redemption for all members age 70 and older. In total, WESTCO is returning $2.8 million in cash back to members, following the Annual Meeting.
The Board recognized Craig Henkel and Dan Oligmueller who fulfilled their terms on the Board. Overall, Henkel served six years on the WESTCO Board of Directors while Oligmueller served a total of 19 years, making him one of the longest serving Board members in the cooperative’s history. In other business, Trabor Bauer and Joe Thompson were elected to serve three-year terms on the Board of Directors.
General Manager David Briggs reviewed the seven Divisions that serve the members, highlighting many positives for the year, including a $400K decrease in expenses, a $600K decrease in interest and achievement of target margins. Despite the pandemic and many other challenges throughout the year, WESTCO employees were able to achieve budget and return cash to Members.