Centennial Farm Supply Ltd. cut the ribbon on its brand new Petro-Canada cardlock in Altona last week.
The Winkler-based company invited the Altona/Rhineland community to their lot at 29 14th Ave. NE in the Altona Industrial and Business Park Thursday for a free barbecue lunch, door prizes, and a short grand opening ceremony.
In his remarks, Altona Mayor Harv Schroeder reflected on how busy the new site has been since it opened for business a few weeks ago.
“Seeing all those trucks driving by, you know that when they finish emptying out at Bunge they will be pulling in through here and filling up. I’ve seen it over the last few days,” he said. “It’s a good thing.
“It’s exciting to see another business moving into our new business park,” the mayor continued, thanking Centennial Farm Supply for choosing Altona for its latest location. The company also has cardlocks in Winkler, Morden, Miami, Killarney, Crystal City, and Holland. “On behalf of the town council, we welcome you and we look forward to the future success of your business.”
Municipality of Rhineland Reeve Don Wiebe echoed those sentiments, noting that one of the RM’s economic strategies is to “support value-based industry.
“This is a big convenience, a big boost to our industries here,” Wiebe said, going on to reflect on the area’s vibrant agricultural community. “Agriculture is big here, so your investment here will help … provide convenient fuel access to our producers [in the] surrounding area.”
Centennial Farm Supply owner Kevin Braun said they saw a real need for a site like this in the area.
“We didn’t have much of a presence in the eastern region, and we’re trying to grow our business, so that’s where Altona came up as a really good site,” he said. “There’s a lot of activity going on here. The business park is booming. It’s a good place to be.
“We’re really excited to be in the town of Altona and we’re looking forward to what the future is going to hold for us here,” Braun said. “We are seeing a lot of good traffic coming through here already, so that’s encouraging.”
He thanked the Town of Altona and the RPGA Planning District for making it such a smooth process to get things up and running.
“It was a breath of fresh air dealing with them,” Braun shared.
The cardlock offers clear gas and clear diesel as well as dyed products for farm customers and diesel exhaust fluid.
“And we’ve got lots of room here, so big equipment, trucks of all sizes can move through here quite comfortably,” Braun noted.
Braun gave credit to his staff for making the business the success it is across all its locations.
“We sell a quality product, which speaks for itself, but I always circle back to the people,” he said. “That, to me, is one of the biggest recipes to success.”
