Successful businesses often tend to match the values and character of the communities they serve.
Gateway Co-op’s operations, located in Canora, Buchanan, Sturgis and Preeceville, is a fine example of that.
Brad Chambers, general manager with Gateway Co-op, says the reason for that is the Co-op business model and its relationship to the people it serves across Saskatchewan.
“It’s all about giving back to the community,” he says. “We support the communities that support us.”
By that, Chambers refers to the donations Gateway Co-op provides for an array of community projects and services.
“We provide donations to all kinds of service groups in our area, and we sponsor and work with the towns we serve to hold events,” he says.
For example, last December Gateway Co-op donated $2,000 to help purchase a Haematology Analyzer, which tests blood for a variety of disorders,for Canora Hospital.
“And of course, being a co-operative our profits are our members’ profits,” Chambers adds. “We share all the profits we make in the year that are not invested back into the business sites.”
That commitment best explains Gateway Co-op’s motto – “You are at Home Here” - as a community builder.
“That makes us very unique,” Chambers says.
“We are also famously known for our poppyseed rolls - the best in Canada, in our opinion,” he says proudly. “They are so well known that we’ve even sent them on buses across the country upon request.
“They are quite the thing.”
In total, Gateway Co-op employs roughly 100 people to run its operations, which include: a new gas bar and liquor store in Canora, an all-in-one store in Buchanan, which provides everything from food, hardware and fuel, a grocery store in Sturgis, and lumber, hardware and bulk and cardlock petroleum sales in Preeceville.
For more information about Gateway Co-op, visit www.gatewayco-op.crs/sites/gateway.
