Delmar Commodities facility at Jordan Corner.

 

 

Two southern Manitoba grain and specialty crop buyers are involved in a newly-announced partnership.

Delmar Commodities Ltd founder Martin Harder has announced the sale of his shares to the shareholders of Keystone Grain Ltd and two employee shareholders.

"The existing group from Delmar will hold 50 percent of the shares and the other 50 percent will be held by the Keystone group," says Harder.

Effective November 1st, Harder will become the chair of a joint Board of Directors. He will also serve in an advisory role for Delmar for the next two years.

After starting the company in 1995, Harder has seen it grow to the point where it now operates four grain elevators and one soybean crushing plant. "Never in my wildest dreams would I have said we would have built the company to a level of over 60 million dollars in sales," he says. "But one of the things I've learned is if you serve the customers well, they'll treat you well."

Harder, who also serves as Winkler's mayor, says he felt it was time to focus his energy in other areas. "I thought maybe it was time to step aside and do some other things. As you know, my plate is pretty full. I thought this was a good opportunity to keep it local. I had a number of opportunities from outside the area but this certainly was the best fit."

Keystone Grain Ltd, originally formed in 1993, has until now specialized in processing and marketing sunflowers, flax, specialty crops and organic commodities. Keystone owns three processing facilities; this includes two in Winkler, specializing in sunflowers and flax, and one in Winnipeg focused on the processing and packaging of wild bird food.

~ Monday, November 1, 2010 ~