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 Members of the Wapakoneta Middle School Student Council pose for photo outside the classroom earlier this year. To date, the group has raised nearly $2,300 in which they have donated to various local and area organizations throughout the 2009-2010 school year. Photo provided By KRISTA HAYES
Staff Writer
With the end of the school year nearing, Wapakoneta Middle School Student Council members are hoping to end their term on a positive note.
During the school year, the school government raised nearly $2,300 for various local and area organizations.
“Each year, we try and raise as much money as we can for various clubs and organizations that we vote on and decide to help support at the beginning of the school year,” Wapakoneta Middle School Student Council President Neal Maxson said.
Elected a Student Council representative of his homeroom, Maxson, a seventh-grade student, said this is his second year serving on the council. This year as president, his main responsibility is to set forth an agenda and preside over the group’s monthly meetings which are held the first and third Thursday of each month.
“I joined the Student Council because I was looking for a new activity to do and thought it’d be challenging experience,” Maxson said. “Politics have always been one of the things to stick out in my head and when I grow up, I want to be a lawyer.
“Overall, as president I think I have done a pretty good job,” he said. “Being president is a lot harder than what I thought it would be since I have to make the agendas, run the meetings, and keep the advisers in the loop. I have the whole weight of the council on my shoulders, and at times it can get frustrating, but I would recommend it to all the kids coming to the middle school next year because it’s a fun activity to be involved in.”
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Tuesday, 09 February 2010 |
By WILLIAM LANEY
Managing Editor
Members of two western Ohio farm cooperatives overwhelmingly passed the consolidation of Advanced Agri-Solutions Inc. and Southwest Landmark Inc. to form a new company, Trupointe Cooperative Inc.
Advanced Agri-Solution President and CEO Larry Hammond announced Monday during a teleconference that the members of both cooperatives voted in favor of the consolidation and that the two operations will become one. The consolidation takes effect Sept. 1.
The votes on consolidation of the two cooperatives passed with 77.1 percent of the 1,294 ballots cast by Advanced Agri-Solutions members and 82 percent of the 632 ballots cast by Southwest Landmark members in favor of the decision. Sixty percent was needed.
“Obviously, the consolidation provides us with some cost-savings, some synergies and some efficiencies by operating one corporate structure instead of two,” Hammond said. “It also allows our customers and members to take advantage of our employee expertise, while our employees can focus on a more specific area and develop and help farmers by having more specialized knowledge.”
Hammond said the larger company should gain an advantage in purchasing power and selling because of a stronger market presence.
Combined the two cooperatives had sales of $496.4 million in 2009, with Advanced Agri-Solutions having $279 million in sales and Southwest Landmark having $217.4 million in sales.
Together the two cooperatives have a total of 45 locations in 29 counties from Fort Wayne, Ind. to the Ohio River. They have a total of 510 full-time employees with an average length of service of 25 years.
“We have a map of the territory from Fort Wayne to Ohio River which shows that the two territories do not overlap and it will be business at usual at our branch locations,” Hammond said. “There is approximately a 30-mile gap between our branches in the Urbana-Springfield area and our branch in Green-ville.”
He said they are looking to locate the new headquarters in the Troy area “where the two management teams will work side-by-side.”
The next steps in the process center on the legal and financial paperwork to consolidate the two entities.
Southwest Landmark CEO and President Gordon Wallace talked about the benefits of consolidating the two cooperatives.
“One of the biggest things is our strengths are very complimentary of each other,” Wallace said. “Southwest Landmark is bigger in energy, we are bigger in the propane industry and they are not, so we can take our expertise in the propane business and bring that to the territory of Advanced Agri-Solutions.
“They are a lot bigger in grain and grain marketing than Southwest Landmark, so Advanced Agri-Soutions can bring their expertise in grain and grain marketing to our members in Southwest,” he said.
Wallace continued with his persuasive points noting Advanced Agri-Solutions can bring their expertise in feed grain and feed sales to Southwest Landmark, and Southwest Landmark has a greater expertise in seed technology and sales and can bring those areas of expertise to Advanced Agri-Solutions.
“The exciting part of the consolidation is it is good for all of our members — it is good for all of our customers because we do not have to reinvent the expertise we can use it throughout our territory,” Wallace said.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 11 February 2010 )
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