Oneota Coop elects new board members

The Oneota Coop announced new board members at its annual meeting Thursday night. Balloting took place during March.  Lora Friest (537 votes) and Anne Dykstra (365) were elected. Carl "Maxxx Madcap" Alstad also ran and received 326 votes.

Dykstra and Friest  fill positions held by Lyle Luzum and Robert Fitton. Luzum has served for two terms starting in April of 2007, and is currently Board Secretary. He previously served as Vice President and President.  Fitton was appointed by the Board in November 2009 to fill a resignation, and has been handling the duties of Vice President since 2010.

Although many positive were expressed at the annual meeting, there were several financial highlights that bode well for the upcoming year.

•    Building loans were renegotiated with Decorah Bank and Trust, from 6.9 percent to 5.07.
•    Other outside loans were consolidated into a loan with Decorah Bank and Trust.
•    The Coop expects about $180,000 in savings due to those loan changes and it allows for completion of loans four years earlier than originally planned.
•    Sales are up 11.2 percent from first quarter of last year, well above budgeted numbers.

Other highlights of the meeting included:

•    A highly successful membership drive
•    Increased sales of local products ($790,000 in sales last year)
•    Greatly increased participation in educational and class offerings in the first quarter this year.

Dykstra

Friest