Among this year’s seven winners was Sunderland Co-operative General Manager Clare Hayes who was honoured with the Distinguished Co-operator Award.
Hayes began his career at Sunderland Co-operative in 1968. In 1980 he was promoted to assistant manager. During this time, Clare’s vision for the future started to unfold. He was instrumental in the building of a bulk fertilizer plant. This was before the days of computers, so it was up to Clare to formulate the blend sheets by hand. A daunting task for most, but Clare persevered until he was able to convince the board of directors to install its first computer system.
Clare Hayes has promoted co-operative values throughout his four decade career with Sunderland Co-operative and through his support of other co-ops and the community. His tenacity and vision propelled his co-operative from a humble existence of producing one million dollars of sales in 1968 to today reporting a significant $46.5 million for fiscal 2009. But most impressive is that this co-operative has managed to pay out patronage dividends to its farmer-members each consecutive year since its beginnings in 1950 and continued to do so under Clare’s direction and management team from 1983 on.
Sunderland Co-operative has achieved tremendous growth and success through Clare’s responsible business practices, such as maintaining a strong balance sheet, using savings for growth and returning surplus revenues to its members in the form of patronage on a consistent basis.
An important facet to Clare is his commitment to supporting youth development. He maintains strong support from his co-op in regards to local youth through sponsoring 4-H clubs, local fairs, sending teens and young couples to conferences and accepting co-op students from local high schools.
Presenting the award to Hayes was 2008 Distinguished Co-operator Award winner Claude Gauthier, Ontario region manager for GROWMARK, Inc.
In his acceptance speech, Clare paid special tribute to his board of directors, loyal member-customers and strong supportive staff that he says truly paved the way to his success. After nearly 42 years of service with Sunderland Co-operative Hayes announced earlier this year that he will retire at the end of 2010.
On Co-op produces the Conference and Gala – one of the largest co-op conferences in Canada. The event, hosted by On Co-op and sponsored by a number of Ontario co-operatives, was held at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington, Ontario.
Other 2010 On Co-op Conference and Gala highlights
This year’s conference and Gala was themed “2020-Expand your Co-op Vision”. The Conference began with an intensive four-part plenary session, facilitated by Global TV’s Sean Mallen, designed to mobilize the sector in long-term strategic planning. The all-morning session included a taped presentation by Ed Mayo, secretary general of Co-ops UK, a live video link with Rachel Griffiths, creator of the UK’s Co-operatives Fortnight project, and small-group discussions on policy development and the potential for growth and new opportunities in the coming decade. As 2012 has been declared by the United Nations as the International Year of Co-operatives, session participants also began to discuss plans to celebrate! The two videos and many workshop presentations have been posted to the conference pages of the On Co-op website.Co-op Crocodiles was one of 14 activities presented during the 10th annual Co-op Conference and Gala and for the first time, the conference included a co-op Showcase and Tradeshow, featuring displays by 22 organizations.
Silent and live auctions, featuring items donated by Ontario co-operatives including FS Co-operatives, raised more than $8000 for On Co-op’s Co-operative Young Leaders program. To learn more about the Gala and see videos from the award winners, visit http://www.ontario.coop/
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