Preparations are being finalized at the Prairie Sky Co-op for their Annual General Meeting which is taking place Tuesday, April 24th, at McKenna Hall.

"We will be providing the membership with the fiscal year-end results for 2017 as well as some marketing initiatives and corporate strategic initiatives for 2018 and beyond," explained Don Kraft, General Manager, Prairie Sky Co-op.

There will be reports given by the controller for the financial report and board president with the strategic initiatives with Kraft reporting on the marketing.

Kraft said that 2017 was a tougher year with some continuation of the economic downturn from 2016 but it was also a growth year for the coop as they expanded the trading area with the amalgamation with MIlestone Coop and a fair amount of capital expenditures so far in 2018 to prepare for the future. 

"We're feeling fairly positive. The spring has not come as soon as we would have liked, however, we do feel there is a lot of optimism in the area both in the agricultural and in the oil patch and we feel like 2018 will be a better year for the Co-op."

Membership in the Co-op allows for people to have input into the AGM as well as receiving a share in the profits of the Co-op.

Kraft said over $2.5 million was paid back to the membership last year through their revenue sharing program.

"Over the past three years we have paid back over $7 million in cash," he added.

There are currently around 10,000 members of the Co-op including the newly amalgamated Lang store.

Kraft thanked all member-owners for the support over the years and he looks forward to serving them into the future.

The formal meeting part of the AGM starts at 7 pm on Tuesday with a meal at 6:30 pm.