Whatcom Farmers Co-op was formed in 1982 with the merger of Whatcom County Grange Supply and Western Farmers Assn. Our business focus was fuel, fertilizer, and farm supplies through two stores, one in Lynden and another in Bellingham. At the end of our first year of business, we had sales of just over $6,000,000 and we had made a profit of $118,000! This profit was given back to our customers as a dividend based upon their purchases.
Today
As a Co-op we are committed to serving the unique needs of well over 10,000 customers in Whatcom County. We return the majority of our profit back to you in the form of a dividend on the products and services we provide. Over the past 25 years you have built up over $5,000,000 in stock that we expect to retire to you over the next 10 years. Also we have returned back to our customers over $8,600,000 in cash for you to spend into our local economy. We are proud to have had a strong Board of Directors who set our policies and support the use of the stock portion of your dividend for only 10 years and then revolve it back to you in the form of cash.
Our business continues to grow and we have sales exceeding $50,000,000 per year! Our commitment to you has never been stronger. Our goals remain the same . . . to consistently provide value to our members and customers. Our success is being driven by executing our vision of “adding value”. Our employees are the single most important asset we have. Our employees are, ‘who Whatcom Farmers Co-op is’ and you, our customers, are what makes this cooperative exist. We will continue to keep your cooperative financially strong by adapting to the changing marketplace in an effort to sustain your cooperative for the long term.
WFC RETAIL DIVISION
Our Retail Division began with farm stores located in Lynden and in Bellingham. They have evolved into WFC “Country Stores”. We opened our third store in Ferndale in 1999 with the purchase of property that would allow us to also build a fuel station and also a propane storage facility. Our location has good exposure to the I-5 freeway by being located on the frontage road. In 2004 we purchased land next to our Convenience Store in Nooksack, and developed our fourth Country Store location. Each of these locations cater to the growing needs of our customers for Pet Supplies and each have developed ‘Garden Centers’ for lawn & garden needs in addition to the many other products we provide. We have recently remodeled each of our Country Stores to improve your shopping experience with wider isles, better lighting, and a more modern, clean look to appeal to a wider range of customers.
In 1985 we added a Dairy Route truck to better service our dairy customers and provide a farm store right to your door. In 1987 we purchased a Surge Dairy Equipment business and in 1994 we purchased the Boumatic Milking Equipment business as dairy consolidation conditions emerged. We then exited the equipment portion of that business about 10 years later. Our Dairy Route truck continues to be a great service to customers throughout Whatcom County and has become a great delivery service to others.
In 1993 we built our Lynden Convenience Store and gas station on the corner of Depot Road and Main Street and in 1995 we purchased the Nooksack Motor Inn, also a convenience store, on Highway 9 at Everson. In 2001 we purchased a third gas station on the Guide/Meridian Road near Laurel. In 2007 we closed our Laurel operation and we are currently leasing it to “Crazy Bob’s”. The gas station/convenience store business has been challenging over the years due to the wide fluctuation in energy costs.
WFC ENERGY DIVISION
We started the propane business in 1982 with approximately 300 customers. In 1995 we sold our propane storage property at Kok Road & Guide Meridian and relocated it to property north of West Main Street in the Evergreen Business Park. This gave us storage capacity of 90,000 gallons of propane. In 1999 we added storage of 30,000 gallons at Ferndale and in 2005 we added additional storage of 60,000 gallons on property purchased at Nooksack which can unload railroad cars of propane. Storage capacity has been critical to our growth to over 6,000 propane customers and eight delivery trucks.
In 2002 we had the privilege to merge the Texaco dealership, Visser Oil Company, into our Petroleum Division. This merger has been the smoothest consolidation we have accomplished since both WFC and Visser Oil had similar business philosophy of serving our rural customers with personal service for all delivered gasoline and diesel fuels.
WFC AGRONOMY DIVISION
Our fertilizer business began in 1982 with the acquisition of the Western Farmers facilities. In 1998 we purchased the Wolfkill Fertilizer business and consolidated their group of employees and their customers with our Agronomy business. In 2006 we completed the construction of a brand new facility for our combined Agronomy business on property purchased next to our propane plant north of West Main Street in Lynden that allowed us to be much more efficient and also more profitable.
