| Two Indiana co-ops merge under North Central name |
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| By ANN ALLEN
Indiana Correspondent
WABASH, Ind. — A Sept. 1 merger approved by stockholders of Fulton-Marshall Cooperative, based in Rochester, and North Central Cooperative (NCC) of Wabash created the North Central Co-op.
The new co-op’s administrative offices will remain in Wabash, with NCC president and CEO Darrell Smith at its head. Barry Day, formerly president of the Fulton-Marshall Cooperative, is now senior manager for crops and special projects. Both feel the merger is a positive move for customers and the company.
Prior to the merger, Fulton-Marshall had facilities in Fulton, Marshall and Pulaski counties, as well as serving a customer base in St. Joseph and surrounding counties.
The new co-op will have 240 employees serving northern Indiana, southern Michigan and northwestern Ohio, generating anticipated sales of $225 million.
NCC, farmer-owned with many non-farm customers, recently built a new fertilizer hub near Mentone, Ind., and also operates crop centers in the Indiana cities of Warren, Logansport, Macy, Nappanee, Wabash, Burket, Lucerne, Peru and Roann, and Coldwater, Mich.
NCC formed in 1987 with the merger of the Wabash and Kosciusko counties’ Farm Bureau cooperatives.
Its name was chosen because it described the portion of Indiana served by the cooperatives and was not specific to either county. With the addition of mergers with Cass, DeKalb, Elkhart, Howard, LaGrange, Miami, Noble, Steuben and Wabash counties in Indiana as well as Branch, Cass and St. Joseph counties of Michigan, the name has remained the same.
A member-owner of Countrymark Co-Op, NCC is part of the cooperative system’s privately owned refinery and pipeline system with terminals in Mt. Vernon, Switz City, Jolietville and Peru, Ind.
A multi-faceted operation, NCC relies on its Land O’Lakes regional manufacturing plant in Milford to supply animal feeds through branches in Lafontaine and Fremont, Ind.
It formed a partnership earlier this year with AgQuest to offer financial program and services.
In describing the merger with Fulton-Marshall Cooperative into NCC, sale and marketing manager Ron Pettet said, “This move will make us a major ag co-op in the areas of energy, crops and feed.”
This farm news was published in the Sept. 12, 2007 issue of Farm World, serving Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee. |
| 9/12/2007 |
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