HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1986-12-23, Page 31THE CITIZEN, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1986. PAGE 31.
Fred Meier named vice-president of Gay Lea
FRED MEIER
An area dairy farmer has been
elected first vice-chairman of the
board of directors of Gay Lea Foods
Co-operative Limited, at a direc
tors’ meeting following the com
pany’s annual meeting in Guelph
on December 4. Gay Lea is the
largest farmer-owned dairy co-op
in Ontario, with more than 3,600
shareholders, most of them from
the counties of Huron, Perth, Grey,
Bruce and Middlesex.
Fred Meier of RR 4, Brussels,
has served as the board’s second
vice-president for three years,
after having been first elected as a
delegate to the annual meeting in
1974, and as a director from Zone 1
since 1978. He has been a Gay Lea
shareholder since 1966, the same
year he established his own
Holstein herd at Swiss Valley
Farms on Hwy. 4, now owned in
partnership with his son and
daughter-in-law, Fred Jr. and
Linda Meier.
At the same meeting, John
Campbell of RR 3, Bayfield, was
re-elected chairman of the board,
and George Pinkney of Listowel
v^as elected as second vice-chair
man. The directors are: Jack
Stafford (Wroxeter), Tom McGee
(Flesherton), Edwin Miller (Exe
ter), Don Ahrens (Elmwood) and
BobTurnerand Howard Wilson
(both Owen Sound).
In the chairman’s address, Mr.
OMAF
offers |
money |
managements
course
Are you short of spending
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The Ontario Ministry of Agricul
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The course consists of five
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There is a minimum registration
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Campbell said that the company’s
1986 results were somewhat lower
than expected, and that reductions
of milk supply continue to affect
plant efficiency. The co-op’s
cheese business is in the process of
consolidating, reducing factory
locations from three to two, which
will improve the efficiency of the
GREETINGS OF THE SEASON
operation.
Member shareholders increas
ed by 55 in 1986, bringing the total
membership to 3,636, with more
than one third of them being active
milk and/or cream producers.
Peter McLinden, Gay Lea presi
dent, said that earnings for the
year totalled $2,148,000, a figure
In this season of happy thoughts and warm
hearts, we extend a special “Thank you” to all our good
friends and patrons for your confidence,
loyalty and support... a Merry Christmas to all!
which included some gain on the
sale of the edible oil operations and
a meat business in 1986. The
co-ops’s financial position has
improved significantly over last
year’s, with debt dropping and
members’ equity increasing. Total
assets were up slightly over 1986.
A patronage and common share
dividend was declared and an
nounced returning $601,000 from
earnings to member shareholders.
Gay Lea has paid a dividend on
common shares every year since
incorporation in 1956, and a
patronage dividend has been paid
to producer member shareholders
for eight of the past nine years.