Successful Cooperation 



The Story of the Cooperative Grain and Supply 



Co. at Serena 



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Q^NE day early in 1919 a small 

 }r / group of LaSalle county stock- 

 V^ / men attending the annual meet- 

 ing of the Serena Livestock Shipping 

 Association waited uneasily as the chair- 

 man started to close the session. 



"Is there any other business to come 

 before this meeting?" he queried. 



There was a moment of silence. The 

 president glanced quizzically from face 

 to face. Then . . . 



"Mr. Chairman! One more thing. 

 This association has made livestock rais- 

 ing more profitable for most of us 

 through better marketing. Many of us 

 sell more grain than livestock. Can't 

 we improve that market, too?" 



As though their chairs had suddenly 

 become too hot for comfort, the men 

 squirmed, shifted, looked at each other. 

 It was a challenge. None was satisfied 

 with the price he was getting for grain. 

 But, what could he, acting individually, 

 do about it? 



Hours later the meeting adjourned, 

 but not before it was decided to set up a 

 cooperative elevator. 



Later that year, August 14, the Co- 

 operative Grain and Supply Company of 

 Serena was born. Its silver spoon was 

 $23,500, the proceeds of the sale of 235 

 shares of stock. Its sponsors were H. 

 T. Marshall, president; Leo Dondan- 



ville, secretary-treasurer; Ernest Bernard, 

 George Bernard, A. E. Marshall, John 

 D. Marshall and Francis Sebby, directors. 



Seeking a utensil with which to feed 

 their infant, the officers priced the ele- 

 vator owned by Armour and Company. 

 They declined the offer when they found 

 that the owner valued it as though it 

 were gold-plated. 



When it became generally known that 

 the new co-op would have an elevator 

 of its own even at the expense of build- 

 ing one, the Armour plant suddenly 

 dropped in price and the farmers bought 

 it. Popular opinion at the time was that 

 the big grain company had seen the 

 handwriting of substantially reduced 

 margins on the wall and had decided to 

 quit rather than face a militant, organ- 

 ized group of grain growers on their 

 own ground. 



But the farmers had their problems, 

 too. The first was securing good man- 

 agement. Ed Grandgeorge, the Armour 

 manager, held his position, closed one 

 set of books, opened another for the 

 new owners. TTiat seemed the easiest 

 way to get a manager who knew the 

 business. 



Soon Ed discovered that the farmers' 

 baby held no charm for him. He had 

 been schooled by private enterprise in 

 the art of skimming fat margins. His 



FARMERS BOUGHT A PLANT, ADDED TO IT 

 To th« original elevator was added a hardware store, an implement house and 

 garage, and, lately, a ieed warehouse. Lumber yards and coal bins lie beyond the 

 groin house. 



OCTOBER. 1938 



new bosses would permit no skimming 

 and Ed soon found a place with another 

 old-time firm. 



A year and a half later, after two man- 

 agers had been tried, Ed Dolder was 

 hired to preside over weights, grades and 

 accounts. Popular with patrons and 

 members, Mr. Dolder held his position 

 until his untimely death in 1932 when 

 he was succeeded by the present man- 

 ager, H. C. Morel. 



As soon as the grain business was in 

 capable hands, the Cooperative Grain 

 and Supply Company concentrated on 

 the supply part of the business. Money 

 was borrowed to stock a complete line 



PRESIDENT HENRY T. MARSHALL 

 "His record oi service to Illinois agri- 

 — culture is impressive." 



of hardware and farm machinery to be 

 sold on a cooperative basis. 



Then it was a two-man co-op and H. 

 C. "Hank" Morel was employed to help 

 Dolder with the implement and hard- 

 ware department. Through his capable 

 planning and energetic management the 

 hardware side grew in importance and 

 earned its share of dividends. 



When all was running smoothly, the 

 directors recognized another problem, 

 namely, indebtedness. The co-op owed 

 $22,000 of which $18,500 had been bor- 

 rowed to operate the business. Local 

 banks held the paper and interest charges 

 slowed the company's progress. 



(Continued on page 17) 



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