Members of two Ohio cooperatives have until Feb. 5 to vote on a proposed merger that has been unanimously approved by the boards of both co-ops.
Ballots were mailed on Jan. 14 to members of Advanced Agri-Solutions (AAS) Cooperative, headquartered in Wapakoneta, and Southwest Landmark Inc., headquartered in Xenia. If approved, the new cooperative will begin operations on Sept. 1, 2010, as Trupointe Cooperative Inc., headquartered in Troy, Ohio, and will operate some 45 facilities in 21 counties in Ohio and Indiana.
The consolidation has been roughly three years in the making, according to Gordon H. Wallace, CEO of Southwest Landmark. In a video message to co-op members, Wallace joined AAS President and CEO Larry J. Hammond in touting the merger’s advantages.
In addition to geographic diversity, both CEOs said Southwest Landmark brings an emphasis on liquid fuels, propane, seed, and turf, and it also has access to barges through one of its locations on the Ohio River. AAS operates some 20 grain operations with 1.5 million bushels of storage on five railroads, and also manufactures liquid foliar, micronutrients, and seed starters. Both co-ops offer agronomy services and a wide range of fertilizer products. Southwest Landmark completed construction of a 40,000-ton fertilizer facility in South Charleston in 2008.
“The combined portfolio of the company would be enhanced,” said Hammond. “We would be able to offer more products and services. Supply and price risk can also be managed better due to larger volumes and a broader trade territory.”
“This may seem like a monumental change, but I think we have to go back to the previous consolidations, and I would argue that we wouldn’t have the facilities, the equipment, and the employee expertise that we have today without our former consolidations,” added Wallace. “Now it’s time to go to this next step so that we can meet the future needs of our members and customers with the right equipment, the right facilities, and the right expertise.”
Southwest Landmark has 16 owned facilities and one leased facility in nine counties in southwestern Ohio. The cooperative was formed in 2000 by the merger of Agri-Urban, Clinton Landmark, Clark Landmark, and Ag Tech cooperatives. It expanded that same year with the purchase of five former Terra agronomy plants from Land O’Lakes in Catawba, Cedarville, Roxanna, Sedalia, and Wilmington, Ohio.
Southwest Landmark has 176 full-time employees, along with 64 part-time or seasonal employees, and it has some 1,800 members in southwestern Ohio. It is governed by a ten-member board of directors. Its other facilities are located in Columbus, Georgetown, Lebanon, Medway, Pleasant Plain, South Charleston, Springfield, Winchester, and Xenia, Ohio, with agronomy operations focused in the Catawba, Cedarville, Georgetown, Sedalia, and South Charleston locations.
AAS has approximately 2,500 members, 205 full-time employees, and 65 part-time or seasonal employees throughout western Ohio and eastern Indiana. The co-op is governed by a nine-member board of directors. It was founded in 2007 with the merger of Auglaize Provico Co-op in Wapakoneta, EMP Co-op in Monroeville, Ind., and Minster Farmers Co-op in Minster, Ohio.
AAS has some 27 facilities in 12 counties. In addition to Wapakoneta, the co-op has Ohio locations at Buckland, Uniopolis, Kenton, Huntsville, Maplewood, Sidney, Botkins, Kettlersville, Greenville, Russia, Osgood, Minster, New Bremen, St. Marys, Celina, Fort Recovery, and Payne, and Indiana facilities at Woodburn, Monroeville, and Fort Wayne.
Southwest Landmark saw total sales of more than $217 million for the fiscal year ending July 31, 2009, while AAS posted total sales of $279 million for the fiscal year ending Aug. 31, 2009. Southwest sold nearly 57,000 tons of dry fertilizer in 2008, along with more than 48,000 tons of liquid fertilizer and 8,774 tons of anhydrous ammonia. Ag Chemical sales for 2008 totaled $13.35 million, with turf chemical sales totaling $1.26 million.
The board of directors of both co-ops voted unanimously in September 2009 to bring the consolidation proposal to a vote of the membership in January 2010. If approved, a board of ten directors will govern the new co-op, with five chosen from each of the current boards. Hammond is to be appointed as president and CEO, and Wallace is to be appointed as executive vice president and chief operating officer.
Both co-op boards have been engaged in an aggressive push to sell the idea to members. A website was created in December to provide details and answer questions. The site also features video presentations from Hammond and Wallace. The co-ops held six informational meetings about the consolidation in early January. In addition to absentee ballots, both co-ops have scheduled member meetings at Wapakoneta and Xenia on Feb. 5 to allow those in attendance to vote on the consolidation.
Results of the membership vote will be announced Feb. 8, 2010. The consolidation must garner 60 percent of the vote to move forward.