Growmark
GROWMARK, Inc. is a regional agricultural supply cooperative operating primarily in the Midwest and Northeastern United States and Ontario, Canada.[1] Its local member cooperatives commonly use the name FS.
The organization now known as GROWMARK started in 1927 when nine of the local agricultural supply cooperatives in Illinois, which had started early in the 1920s, formed Illinois Farm Supply Company. In 1955, the company adopted the FS trademark, which has remained in use by its member cooperatives since then. In the 1960s, the company moved from Chicago to Bloomington, Illinois, merged with Farm Bureau Service Company of Iowa to form FS Services, Inc., then merged Wisconsin Farmco Service Cooperative and Producers Seed Company into itself as well. FS Services and Illinois Grain Corporation merged in 1980 to form GROWMARK, Inc.[2]
GROWMARK gained the 37 member cooperatives in Ontario when it acquired United Co-operatives of Ontario in 1994.[2] It entered the northeastern market in 2002 by purchasing Agway's seed and agronomy businesses including Seedway.[2][3]
Canada
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In Canada, GROWMARK has partial ownership of Norfolk FS and provides for Haldimand County, Norfolk County, Kitchener, Waterloo, Oxford County, and Middlesex County. GROWMARK took over the former Norfolk Co-Operative following its bankruptcy procedures ended in 2006 after a 3 year long struggle to maintain business in the agriculture community![4]
References
- ^ "About Us — FAQ's". GROWMARK, Inc. Retrieved 2008-06-12.
- ^ a b c "GROWMARK History". GROWMARK, Inc. Retrieved 2008-06-12.
- ^ Agway, Inc. (2002-12-18). "SEC Form [[8-K]], accession number 2852-2-48". Securities and Exchange Commission. Retrieved 2008-06-12.
{{cite web}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help) - ^ <a href="http://www.fspartners.ca/content/view/29/73/">Our Organization</a>, FS Partners Retrieved on 9/8/2008
External links
- Growmark — official site (mostly fails without JavaScript)
- Partners, Alliances, and Subsidaries — explains GROWMARK's organization structure and subsidiaries
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