BELLE FOURCHE—Going from a bare shell to a fully stocked, well lived-in business in a matter of weeks is something to celebrate! And celebrate they did when the CBH CO-OP opened the doors and invited the public to see the finished project over lunch on March 26, 27 and 28.
Instead of a one-day celebration, the CBH CO-OP decided to do a three-day event to cater to the public and the local sale barn patrons. “The open house is going really well,” said Todd Reif, CBH CO-OP CEO. “We were going to do it all in one day and then with the sale barn here in Belle and at Saint Onge on Friday, we decided to do lunch and catch people coming and going on both sides of the auction—buying and selling.”
CO-OP employees cooked hamburgers and cheeseburgers on the grill and offered a choice of chips, cookies and cold drinks.
The weather cooperated and allowed for the outside space to be utilized. “We were going to set up inside yesterday morning, but the weather was so nice we decided—let’s just have it outside,” explained Reif. “It’s like a picnic, right?”
Guided tours of the facility were given throughout the day. Feedback was positive. “They’re really liking the new building, it just looks a lot nicer than where we were at, so they like that. Everything is centralized and a lot of people like that,” explained Mackenzie Olson, Feed Manager. “We’re all in one spot now so they can come for a one-stop-shop and we can get them where they need to go quicker!”
The new building has been open for business for about three weeks. Despite a few hiccups with the phone lines, the new work complex has been running smoothly. “It’s been good. We’ve all been helping each other out, so that’s been nice. I feel like the departments all coming together has been good for the CO-OP too, as a workplace,” said Olson.
Despite having some bulk feed over at the old ag location and a few LP parts down south, most of the business locations have been united under the new roof. Reif said, “I think everything is figured out and running smoothly!”
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