Friday, February 24, 2017

Hensall fires veteran manager

Hensall District Cooperative Inc. has fired its general manager, Earl Wagner, who has worked for the farmer-members for 53 years.

Brad Chandler, who was commercial business manager before, has come back to take over immediately as general manager.

At the annual meeting at the end of November, then-president Keith Strang said conditions were “extremely volatile” during 2015 and 2016.

The profit of $11.4 million in 2015 was restated as a loss of $14.6 million.

Strang referenced the decline in value of the Canadian dollar vs. the U.S. currency and said 55 per cent of Hensall’s business is in U.S. dollars.

The coop also reported a profit of more than $21 million for 2016. It’s not clear what has happened since to prompt Wagner’s dismissal.

The new president of the board of directors is Steve Jansen. The coop has 560 employees and operates from 26 locations.