Kingfisher Lions Club members and guests were updated last week on the expansion plans of CHS Oklahoma.

Jason Kroener, general manager, talked about the agriculture-based company’s expansion plans at the club’s weekly luncheon meeting last Thursday.

He began by relating that CHS, with corporate offices in Minnesota, began in 1929 and remains a cooperative owned by farmers, ranchers and cooperatives across the United States.

He said CHS was a Fortune 100 global agribusiness with more than 11,000 employees and was diversified in the fields of agronomy, grains and energy, active in all 50 U.S. states and 65 other nations.

He noted that all 17 CHS board members were fulltime farmers and ranchers.

Kroener said the construction of the $6.5 million investment in the Kingfisher agronomy facility was near completion.

It will feature offices and a 5,000-ton liquid fertilizer tank fully functioning, and the dry fertilizer warehouse storage and distribution facility is set to be in full operation early next month.

“In our business, profit margins become thinner each year, so if you’re not growing your sales, you are basically dying,” he said.

“We have many challenges, but the opportunities are out there. Our customers have the same challenges and it’s all about the service and quality of the products we offer. They want it faster, more efficient and cheaper. It’s our job to meet those requirements and still be able to stay in business.”

Kroener said CHS Oklahoma was in the final stages of a merger which would gain the company three locations in southwest Oklahoma.

“We will gain a propane business and cotton gin and a customer base that expands our grain operation and we’re excited about the growth possibilities,” he said.

Kroener noted that CHS Oklahoma was an agriculture retail business with annual sales of approximately $50 million.

“We need to have $100 million in sales to be able to perform at the level we project we should be,” he said.

“So, you see the challenges we face. Grain opportunities in our area of the state have leveled out. It’s a mature market. So, fuel and agronomy are where we are being very aggressive in sales. The more we sell, the more we can hire the top notch professionals we feel we need to operate the business at the level our customers deserve and demand.”

He closed by inviting anyone wishing to tour the new facilities (located west of U.S. 81, just north of Mercy Hospital Kingfisher) to give him a call.

“We’re proud of it,” he said. “It’s a big investment, and state-of-the-art. We’d love to show you around.”

Kroener was introduced by CHS employee Zach Meyer, who is program chairman for the Kingfisher Lions Club.