WEYBURN – The Prairie Sky Co-operative Association set a record for sales in 2022, members and staff heard at their annual meeting on April 25 at the Legion Hall.
The Co-op posted a total of $109.4 million in sales, up from $85.9 million the year before.
“As we are locally owned, these are repaid back or put back into our assets,” noted Stella Swertz, chair of the board of directors. She added that the patronage and equity paid back to members this year will total $2.6 million.
All purchases will be eligible for a two-per-cent patronage rebate, and petroleum sales will see a three-per-cent allocation, the equivalent of 4.5 cents per litre, she said.
General manager Kevin Arthur noted that the Co-op has obtained an SLGA permit for their new liquor outlet, currently being added to the food store location, and it will be open by late June of this year.
He pointed out that the Co-op has a line of Co-op label alcoholic products, such as a beer from grain grown at Englefeld, Sask., and brewed for the Co-op by Great Western Breweries of Saskatoon.
Besides the liquor outlet, the food store and pharmacy are also going to be renovated, with a modern new look and brand new refrigeration units installed, added Arthur.
The Co-op’s new Home Centre had its first full year, and recorded $5 million in sales, up 17 per cent from the year before, plus petroleum sales were also up by 19 per cent to $67 million.
Arthur pointed out that the Co-op has entered a partnership with Roughbark Greenhouse of Weyburn at the Home Centre, and they will be supplying locally-grown bedding plants plus trees and shrubs.
Branch sales totaled $11 million, which is up from $9.2 million the year before, and the total margin on sales was $15.9 million.
There were net savings of $4.4 million, up from $4 million the year before, and the assets for the Co-op went up by $3.3 million.
The Co-op will return a total of $2,211,373 to their members, bringing the total returned to members from the last decade to $28.2 million.
For the board of directors, a new director has joined the ranks, Gary Erickson, plus Al York and Melanie Sorensen were acclaimed to new three-year terms.
In the member relations report, Danielle Knoll noted the Co-op made donations totaling $162,000 in 2022, and supported 30 community groups.
In addition, there were a number of donations made, including $2,500 to the Legacy Park School’s nutrition program; $6,000 to the Co-operative Playschool through their gift card program; $2,000 was donated to the Milestone School for purchases at the food store, and employees donated over $2,400 through the company’s casual Friday fundraiser.
The funds were divided up between KidSport, the Salvation Army, Weyburn and District Hospital Foundation and Envision.
Fuel Good day, from which 10 cents per litre sold is donated, raised about $5,000 from the Prairie Sky Co-op outlets, and the funds were divided up between the Weyburn Theatre group, Friends of the Yellow Grass Library and the Dr. Brown Fundraiser committee.
Prairie Sky also partnered with the Weyburn Chamber of Commerce and Southeast College to put on the first Pumpkin Lane event. There were 120 carved pumpkins set out and over 600 people walked through the event.
Co-op employees also volunteered for various teams and groups in the community, contributing over 2,900 volunteer hours.
