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The Rural Voice, 1998-04, Page 28Don't Be Changing In Times of Trouble! Don't Wait Till It's Too Late! You can't afford a lot of downtime when you need tractor or implement tire service. We carry these brands for your tractor, combine and farm implements. GOODYEAR FIRESTONE ARMSTRONG & OTHER BRANDS WE SPECIALIZE IN on the farm TIRE SERVI6- We also handle most brands of passenger and truck tires WILLITS TIRE SERVICE 456 Ross Street Lucknow 528-2103 • raulic ' ump Hoses Bearings Hydraulic Pumps Cylinders HYDRAULIC CYLINDERS REAR PORT ' ORIENTATION 12 Off The Shelf Custom Manufactured CROSS TUBE MARK ORIENTATION 12 0 90e • Any Bore • Any Length Welded Barrel Construction MALE TANG ORIENTATION 12 ❑ 9❑® HOLE THROUGH ROD ORIENTATION 12 B ❑ 9 90® Thickness ❑ 0.775- 0 o.so•• ❑ 0.75" FEMALE CLEVIS ORIENTATION 12 0 Hole Dia.. 1.01" BARFOOT'S BW S N to m WELDING AND MACHINE INC. 517 Brown St., Marton (519) 534-1200 1-800-265-6224 24 THE RURAL VOICE In early 1997 they hired Jim Brown of the consulting company Strive who conducted a combined training and brainstorming session with the members of the group. It was during this meeting, they looked at the legal framework they would need to bring off their dream. "At the end of the meeting we all came to the conclusion that it would be in the best interests of the group to form a company versus a co-op," Schmidt recalls. "It gave us more flexibility to put the profits back into the pockets of the people who deserved the profits." At around the same time they closed the deal to buy the former Hoffmeyer lumber yard, a building originally built in the 1960s. The building was structurally a good sound building, location was good and the price was right. The structural renovations began in June 1997 as the building was gutted to the shell. Krach was retained as a consultant to do the plant layout. The company was set up with a seven -member board of directors with different directors being given responsibility to oversee different aspects of the development of the company. "There's an awful lot of different things that were happening at the same time," Schmidt says. "You're looking at developing the legal framework of the company, the building construction itself and going through the red tape procedure." The amount of red tape threatened to get them down after a while. It wasn't that any aspect to the process was difficult, Schmidt says, it was the sheer volume and the layering of the red tape, with each level of government needing different information. "Everyone we've dealt with, especially the town of Seaforth, have been really good and been very understanding of what we've been going through," he says. "I really have to commend the Town of Seaforth for the way they've helped us and worked with us." One of the different levels the company had to work with was Dairy Farmers of Ontario to get the milk necessary to allow manufacturing. They had to develop a contract to allow the Jersey milk to be