VICTORIA – Being cooperative pays off.
With 330 employees in 25 outlets, and 95,000 members, the growing Peninsula Co-op is all about cooperation and teamwork, earning them recognition as Business of the Year (Over 40 Employees) at the recent Greater Victoria Business Awards.
“It felt great,” says CEO and General Manager Dave Hoy, explaining his feelings when Peninsula Co-op was named the top award winner. “I was very elated, and it was an internal good feeling for all of our board, management and staff, as it takes all of us to win these awards.
“I am always surprised when our name is announced as a winner,” he adds. “I always think about the many other competitors and businesses who also do such a good job.”
Human Resources Manager Toni Stansfield adds “It’s such a great honour to be recognized like this for what our staff does, and what we all do. We feel very proud of being in a position to win an award like this.”
Peninsula amalgamated with Campbell River-based North Island Co-op this April, and that followed a similar merger with the Comox Valley Co-op in April, 2016. Together, that brought in two new gas centres and a card lock location.
Peninsula Co-op currently has 18 gas locations and has a partnership with Save-On Gas locations in the Greater Victoria and Malahat to Duncan areas.
Peninsula Co-op remains 100 per cent locally owned and operated and has more than 95,000 members. Last year, it returned $5.3 million to its member-owners in cash back and equity, while contributing $480,000 to more than 330 charities, community groups, student scholarships, capital projects and initiatives.
Peninsula Co-op has been serving the region from Duncan to Greater Victoria, and most recently Comox and Campbell River for over 40 years. Founded by a small group of Saanich Peninsula residents with a vision and a strong belief in the principles upon which all Co-ops are based, the original members went door-to-door back in the mid 1970’s recruiting members and promoting the new Co-op.
The Peninsula Co-op Food Centre opened its doors in May 1977 on Keating Crossing Road in Saanichton. It ventured into the petroleum business in the early 1980’s and began a partnership with Save-On Gas Ltd. in 1985.
Hoy started with Co-op in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan in 1977 as a food store clerk, and worked his way up through various Co-ops over the years. In 2000, he moved to become General Manager of Nanaimo-based Mid Island Co-op, and accepted the CEO/General Manager position at Peninsula Co-op in March, 2013.
Since joining Peninsula, the Co-op’s annual sales have jumped from $166 million to $219 million, and the number of outlets, including the food store on Keating Crossing Road in Saanich, gas stations and card locks, has increased from 20 to 25.
Hoy notes that the prospect of further growth is on the horizon as well.