A trio of Ohio cooperatives are weighing a future together. Mercer Landmark, Sunrise Cooperative, and Centerra Cooperative have announced they are exploring unification.
Employees and members were informed on Thursday.
From the company announcement: “This strategic initiative represents an early step in a collaborative process to assess how a unified cooperative could bring enhanced value to members, strengthen employee opportunities, and create long-term sustainability for agriculture across Ohio and the surrounding region.”
The companies have stated they found advantages to combining including:
- greater access to resources
- improved services
- stronger competitive positioning for the future
Next steps include the cooperatives evaluating:
- Financial analysis
- Member value impact
- Organizational integration planning
Sunrise cooperative has 32 locations, Centerra has 30 locations, and Mercer Landmark has more than 23 locations.
Last year, Centerra and Mercer Landmark formed Lake States Alliance, which maintained each unique identify of the cooperatives, but launched a partnership across the businesses. Also, in 2021 Sunrise and Mercer Landmark formed a strategic alliance in the feed divisions. Of note, Centerra Cooperative was formed in 2017 with the merger of Western Reserve Farm Cooperative and Town & Country Co-Op.
