SuccessfulCooperation 



MANAGER BILL KITZMILLER 

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



^ ^ 4 _HI-N a small uroup ol farmers 

 ^v^y \y Ntart from scratih. oruanize a 

 J ^ tooperativc elevator, buy a 

 site, erett a modern, toncrete huildint;. 

 go heavily in debt, buikl a iOO.OOO bu. 

 yearly cram business, and then pay otf 

 every penny of their obligations, that's 

 an .iteomplishment worth talking about. 



And when a co-opcrative does all this 

 in the short period ot seven years you 

 can throw in some extra applause tor the 

 country uram business is one ot small 

 margins and constant attention to over- 

 head. 



Hut when a lo operative m.ikes suth .i 

 record through a depression with two 

 years ot drought and short crops to 

 hurdle, just pull otT your hats. boys, and 

 give three rousint: iheers, for you've un- 

 covered another business romance and 

 proved aiiain how larmers can succeed 

 when they work together. 



The J')() stockholders and patrons ol 

 the Sterlintr-Rock I'alls C ooperafive Mar- 

 ketinj,' Association have done all these 

 things. .Seven years ai;o a handful of 

 leaders, all I'arm Bureau members, in 

 eluding Matt Cirennan. irank d. Plautz. 

 Ellis XX'illiams. Tom \fc( tie, 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 talkeil 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 first o( x sctifs ot stortes on successful 

 faiimr owncif m opcr.itivc-. in Illinms. 



The Stoiy of a Fanners' Elevator That 

 Built up a Good Business and Paid 

 all its Debts in Seven Years'^ 



ability. And when )Ou trace the progress 

 ot the elevator and analyze the policies 

 early .idoj^led, you learn that here arc 

 combined the elements ol success, a 

 board of directors that directs, a careful, 

 experiencc-d manager who is loyal to the 

 co-operative principle, and last, but not 

 least, a large ariny 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 

 ha\e an able manager.' commented 

 I'rank Ci. Flautz. vice-president who with 

 President lillis Williams sold most of 

 the initial stock in the company. "I'arm- 

 ers here were ready to support a co 

 operative elevator. .Some of us felt th.ii 

 the margins the local grain buyers were 

 taking were too big. Six to eight cenl-> 

 and up to ten cents .1 bushel margin is 

 too much. I'armers got to haulmi: their 

 grain to farmers elevators .it distant 

 points. Sterling and Rock lalK weren I 

 cettint: much. 



When the news i;ot around that we 

 were oig.iiii/mg. one man wantc>l to sell 

 CIS his ele\ator for S.2'>,()()0, 'and not a 

 ./ 1: cent less,' lie said. We laughed .it 

 liim and started looking for a place to 

 build The railroad offered to give us .1 

 site for nothing, but it wasn't satisf.utory. 

 We had some trouble icKating a spot tlial 

 would suit farmers on lx)th sides ot the 

 ri\er. When we heard of the pl.ue we 

 fmallv selected, everyone stx-nied to like 

 il .So wc closed the dc.il iIk s.inie ^\a\ 

 for S7,^()() 



We got two big lots, a i|uarter ot .1 

 I lU block, close to the mam business sec 

 lion .md on the right side of the bridge 

 lor farmers h.uilinu in from south of the 

 ri\er 



W c had raised SMHld from stock in 

 the fust meeting we called. Within the 

 next Iwo months wc sold about S'^.OIMI 

 more Iheii we 1:01 ,1 SI'J.OOO govern 

 inent loan ihrougli the Illinois Clrain 

 ( orpor.ition We were ready fi) build 

 1 he owner who sold llic lots 10 the 



A LOAD OF BETHANIZED WIRE FENCE 

 The Side Line Business Totaled SI6.513.9I Last "Yeat. 



NOVEMBER, 1937 



