By David Thompson, CVEC CHAIRMAN
2023 will be counted as another great year for CVAC. We expect to end the year with net income in the range of 25 million dollars subject to the final audit numbers. This should make 2023 the 4th best year ever for CVAC. The results are a combination of a great year at our Benson plant and another exceptional year from our outside investments, particularly the Guardian plants.
Our big news of the year is our purchase of additional gallons in the three Guardian plants: Janesville, MN; Hankinson, ND; and Lima, OH. In late September you received a letter about our purchase of approximately 26,000,000 additional gallons of annual production capacity in the three Guardian plants. In the past when we have looked at additional outside investments we have compared them against the Guardian plants which we consider the “gold standard” in outside investments. We have had numerous discussions over the years wishing we would have purchased a larger ownership percentage of the Guardian plants when the initial purchases were made. We were quite excited to get a second chance when KAAPA decided to liquidate their Guardian ownership to focus on their Nebraska operations.
Prior to the additional purchase, your CVAC shares had the earning power from approximately 102,000,000 gallons of annual production. With the additional Guardian ownership, your CVAC shares now have the earning power of about 128,000,000 gallons annually. The Guardian structure has a strong history of collaborative management with each of the owner entities bringing their expertise and experience to the table. This is a model that is very unique in the industry and we are very excited about the future potential.
This will be my last newsletter column. I announced at the September shareholder meeting that I will be retiring from the board when my current term is up in January after serving 22 years on the CVAC board and the last 10 as the board Chairman. It has been a privilege to be part of an amazing organization for 22 years. During that time I have served with many visionary and dedicated board members. I have witnessed the accomplishments and results of our very talented and dedicated team of employees. It has been my good fortune to serve with three exceptional General Managers. Bill Lee, Mike Jerke and Chad Friese have lead our CVAC team to achieve exceptional results. Finally, hats off to our shareholders who had the wisdom and courage to invest in CVAC and have been very supportive of the decisions the board has made over the years.
There is informational elsewhere in the newsletter for the director nomination and election process. This is an opportunity for someone new to step up and be a part of the leadership team for a truly great organization. I look forward to seeing you at our annual meeting January 23.
