The Rural Voice, 1992-12, Page 36Mikitish, Hesketh, Batte,
Andrews & Associates Inc.
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For more information, inquiries
and in-house service please call:
(519) 271-1358
1-800-363-4233
(519) 271-2742
P.O. Box 22002,
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Stratford, Ontario
N5A 7V6
Dufferin Mutual
Insurance Company
Contact our Broker in your area
and ask for ... DUFFERIN MUTUAL
Atwood Cockwell Insurance Brokers Ltd. 519-356-2216
Collingwood Culham Insurance Brokers Ltd. 705-445-6100
Howard Noble Insurance Ltd. 705-445-4738
Simpson & Company 705-445-3151
Dundalk Howard Noble Insurance Ltd. 519-923-2313
Durham Chapman, Graham & Lawrence Insurance .........519-369-3131
Grand Valley Grand Valley Insurance Brokers 519-928-2851
Hanover Chapman, Graham & Lawrence Insurance 519-364-2790
Markdale ....... Tebbutt Insurance Brokers Ltd. 519-986-2167
Chapman, Graham & Lawrence Insurance 519-986-4351
Meaford Georgian Bay Insurance Brokers Ltd. 519-538-2102
Owen Sound ., . L.A. Chester Insurance Ltd. 519-371-0232
Shelburne ......... Crewson Insurance Brokers Ltd. 519-925-3145
Southampton Stan Hills Insurance Broker Ltd. 519-797-3431
Thornbury Howard Noble Insurance Ltd. 519-599-3812
Walkerton Chapman, Graham & Lawrence Insurance .........519.881.0611
Head Shelburne, Ontario
Office 110 Adelaide St., P.O. Box 117, LON 1S0
519-925-2026 1-800-265-9115 Fax 519-925-3357
1895 — 100 years — 1995
32 THE RURAL VOICE
co-op's other locations.
"Synergism" (where the combined
effect of a partnership is greater than
the sum of the individual parts) is a
word that pops up often when
Wagner talks. In Hensall Co-op's
major expansions in the last decade
synergism has always been a major
point to look at. In every case the
expansion came through approaches
from others to Hensall. In 1990 the
co-op was approached by Tom and
Keith Allen of T. B. Allen Limited in
Londesboro and Wingham. The
Allens, wanting their business to stay
in rural hands, offered to sell at a
very fair price, Wagner says. The co-
op agreed to take over the feed mill
and grain receiving and drying
facilities (the co-op recently closed a
Wingham store obtained in the
purchase). Then in late 1990
members of Exeter co-op voted 115
to I to amalgamate with Hensall,
giving the co-op operations in Exeter,
Ailsa Craig, Zurich, Seaforth,
Brucefield and Londesboro as well as
Hensall itself.
The amalgamations with other co-
ops have reduced the proportion of
the co-op's business done by the
elevator division, one of five more -
or -less equal divisions in the
company. The elevator is the high
risk/high gain part of the operation.
Other co-ops in southwestern Ontario
are involved in elevator businesses
but Hensall is the only one involved
in the white bean industry, putting it
into international marketplaces. The
elevator is more capital intensive and
requires more risk management,
Wagner says.
The acquisition of T.B. Allen has
provided a value-added aspect to the
elevator operation by allowing it to
take the corn from the elevators and
grind it into feed for sale as whole
feed to farmers. Likewise the
company can carry loads of soybeans
two ways: taking Loads of raw beans
from its elevators to crushing plants
and bringing soybean meal back for
feed preparation (that word synergy
again).
Wagner says a dedicated staff and
loyal customers are the basis of the
co-op's success. He has been with the
company himself since 1964 when
he joined the sales staff of the co-op
in 1964 after six months of teachers'
college. It was a time of big changes
at the co-op. When Archie Couper
11