SOURCE | Fall 2021 7

Amy Bradford , Corporate Communications Manager abradford @ growmark . com

Four states . One province . Seven meetings over two months . These seven half-day sessions represented GROWMARK ’ s Plan B for the annual gathering of Shareholders , historically held in Chicago in late August .

John Reifsteck , GROWMARK Chairman of the Board and President

Driven by potential COVID restrictions , alternatives for updating Shareholders and conducting the business of the organization – reporting annual operating results and conducting caucuses to nominate directors – were required .

Shareholders throughout the GROWMARK System wanted to get together in person — that was clear , according to John Reifsteck , GROWMARK Chairman of the Board and President .

“ After holding only a virtual meeting last year , our Shareholders told us how much they missed getting together in person . Not knowing what restrictions would be in place for a large gathering in Chicago , we chose to schedule face-to-face Shareholder meetings , based on Zone regions ,” he said .

Shareholder updates were held in Roanoke , Virginia , and Lexington ,

Kentucky , the first opportunities to meet face to face with Southern States Cooperative members .

“ We felt it was really important to share the GROWMARK System in person with our new Southern States members . It was good to meet them in their own territory and update members on the progress of our partnership to date ,” Reifsteck said . “ There is great potential for growth on both sides of the partnership . We look forward to many more years of shared success .”

GROWMARK CEO Jim Spradlin provided year-to-date operational results , recapped GROWMARK ’ s enterprise strategy , and highlighted innovative ideas and technology driving digital transformation throughout the GROWMARK System . Spradlin said COVID elevated the importance of strategic planning and accelerated implementation of

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