MANAGER BILL ETTZMOLER 

 "We've got a good board of directors." 



^^4 —HEN a small group of farmers 

 ^v.y 1/ start from scratch, organize a 

 Q ^ cooperative elevator, buy a 

 site, erect a modern, concrete building, 

 go heavily in debt, build a 300,000 bu. 

 yearly grain business, and then pay off 

 every penny of their obligations, that's 

 an accomplishment worth talking about. 



And when a co-operative does all this 

 in the short period of seven years you 

 can throw in some extra applause for the 

 country grain business is one of small 

 margins and constant attention to over- 

 head. 



But when a co-operative makes such a 

 record through a depression with two 

 years of drought and short crops to 

 hurdle, just pull off your hats, boys, and 

 give three rousing cheers, for you've un- 

 covered another business romance and 

 proved again how farmers can succeed 

 when they work together. 



The 250 stockholders and patrons of 

 the Sterling-Rock Falls Cooperative Mar- 

 keting Association have done all these 

 things. Seven years ago a handful of 

 leaders, all Farm Bureau members, in- 

 cluding Matt Grennan, Frank G. Plautz, 

 Ellis Williams, Tom McCue, John Riet- 

 zel, John Dirks, Harry Butler, Frank 

 Landis and others thought the time was 

 ripe for farmers in this section of White- 

 side and Lee counties to control their 

 own local grain handling machinery. 

 They talked it up, got others interested, 

 and presto, it happened. 



If you ask Manager Bill Kitzmiller 

 how it all came about, he'll modestly tell 

 you that the company has had an unusual 

 board of directors from the beginning — 

 active farmers of exceptional business 



The StovY of a Farmers' Elevator That 

 Built up a Good Business and Paid 

 all its Debts in Seven Years'^ 



ability. And when you trace the progress 

 of the elevator and analyze the policies 

 early adopted, you learn that here are 

 combined the elements of success, a 

 board of directors that directs, a careful, 

 experienced manager who is loyal to the 

 co-operative principle, and last, but not 

 least, a large army of loyal stockholders 

 and patrons who realize that the way to 

 have a strong farmer-owned company is 

 to support it with their business. 



"We had some good breaks and we 

 have an able manager," commented 

 Frank G. Plautz, vice-president who with 

 President Ellis Williams sold most of 

 the initial stock in the company. "Farm- 

 ers here were ready to support a co- 

 operative elevator. Some of us felt that 

 the margins the local grain buyers were 

 taking were too big. Six to eight cents 

 and up to ten cents a bushel margin is 

 too much. Farmers got to hauling their 

 grain to farmers' elevators at distant 

 points. Sterling and Rock Falls weren't 

 getting much. 



"When the news got around that we 

 were organizing, one man wanted to sell 

 us his elevator for $25,000, 'and not a 

 d — « cent less,' he said. We laughed at 

 him and started looking for a place to 

 build. The railroad offered to give us a 

 site for nothing, but it wasn't satisfactory. 

 We had some trouble locating a spot that 

 would suit farmers on both sides of the 

 river. When we heard of the place we 

 finally selected, everyone seemed to like 

 it. So we closed the deal the same day 

 for $7,500. 



"We got two big lots, a quarter of a 

 city block, close to the main business sec- 

 tion and on the right side of the bridge 

 for farmers hauling in from south of the 

 river. 



"We had raised $2,000 from stock in 

 the first meeting we called. Within the 

 next two months we sold about $5,000 

 more. Then we got a $15,000 govern- 

 ment loan through the Illinois Grain 

 Corporation. We were ready to build. " 

 The owner who sold the lots to the 



A LOAD OF BETHANIZED WIRE FENCE 

 The Side Line Business Totaled $16^13.91 Last Year. 



• The ^rst of "a series of stories on successful 

 firmer-owned cooperatives in Illinois. 



NOVEMBER, 1937 



