"It was a great year."

That is how the General Manager for Ste.Anne Co-op is describing 2016. The Co-op held its annual general meeting Thursday evening.

Henry Nickel says local earnings were very strong until fall when wet weather slowed sales. He notes in our local area it was a very strong year for sales but a market collapse in the oil industry had a major impact on western provinces. This left its mark on co-op's refinery in Regina and as a result, the equity received from Federated Co-op was down slightly.

According to Nickel, dollar sales were down a little in 2016, due to deflation in the petroleum. However, sales volume was up.

Ste.Anne Co-op mailed out about 21,500 dividend cheques to members in March. Nickel says they were able to return nearly $6 million, which is down slightly from last year. However, the number of cheques keeps climbing each year.

Nickel says they completed a few projects in 2016. A new gas bar with convenience store and car wash has gone up in Ile des Chenes.

"This is a community that was growing, so we needed to do something to provide a greater service in that community," he says. "So far results are great."

Also in 2016, Federated Co-op built a large bulk petroleum facility at their distribution centre in Steinbach. According to Nickel, the new site stores more than three times as much fuel as the old site, which will help maintain a fuel supply during peak periods. He notes a lot of environmental safeguards have been put in place there and it is also safer for drivers.

Another highlight was Ste.Anne Co-op's transition to a paperless invoicing system. Nickel says this allows for a better, more cost efficient system.

Meanwhile, plans for 2017 include rebuilding their cardlock site in Steinbach. They are also working with the city of Steinbach to pave the service road near the east end gas bar and looking to add a cardlock to their Vita location.