THE CBH Group board officially has two new members after the results of the 2020 election were announced on Monday.
Longest serving board member and chairman Wally Newman, Newdegate, will serve another stint having been re-elected in District 4, claiming 65.12 per cent of the vote against opposition Shane Carruthers, Lake Grace.
In District 2, Vern Dempster, Northam, who had served 12 years on the board, lost his seat to newcomer John O'Neil, Wialki, who secured 63.38pc of the votes.
The seat in District 1, which was left vacant after Rod Madden announced his retirement following more than 11 years, was won by Ken Seymour, Miling, who claimed 42.51pc of the vote against Kirrilee Warr, Yuna and Gareth Rowe, Walkaway.
In total across the three districts, 1164 valid votes were cast, with 414 in District 1, 426 in District 2 and 324 in District 4.
Mr Newman said he was humbled to have been re-elected to the board and would like to acknowledge all the candidates on their campaigns and extend his congratulations to those who have been elected
"As a board, we are fully committed to ensuring CBH remains a strong and sustainable business, and one that continues to put growers at the centre of everything we do," Mr Newman said
"Our focus is on making our supply chain as efficient as possible, we must do everything we can to ensure that Western Australian growers remain internationally competitive."
Mr Newman said throughout his 20 years on the board he has regularly spoken with growers about the performance of their co-operative.
"It is true to say that it was a tough year on several fronts and, while we were disappointed, particularly with financial performance for the year, the co-operative remains in a very strong financial position and growers had one of their most productive years in a long time," Mr Neman said.
Mr O'Neil, who holds a Bachelor of Business from Muresk, said he believes his winning of the election shows that growers wanted a fresh set of eyes looking over investments made outside of CBH's core business.
"I've been very strong on most of the investments that the growers have got the most benefit out of being anything in the supply pipeline, but all of those investments are where the growers see the most value," Mr O'Neil said.
"I plan to really look into reanalysing the investments outside of that pipeline, seeing what the value is and a bit of a cost benefit analysis."
Mr O'Neil said the margin in the election was a lot more than he was anticipating.
"I was really happy but surprised at the same time," he said.
"The first person to ring me after the election was Vern Dempster and it showed that there was no animosity in the campaign.
"He wished me well and I thought it was a really noble thing for him to do."
Mr Dempster said he was disappointed by the results of the election, but proud of everything the board achieved over his 12 years.
"From a personal angle, I had considered resigning and not contesting the election, but when I looked at the board I felt they required me there," Mr Dempster said.
"There's a few things I would have liked to have tidied up but that's the way it goes and I have to respect the decision of the growers."
Mr Dempster had some words of wisdom for his replacement and said Mr O'Neil would need to be vigilant that at some future date they don't want to corporatise the co-operative.
"The role of the board is to determine the strategic direction and hold management to account and I guess that's what will be required of him, it's not always easy but I wish him the best," Mr Dempster said.
"I'm pretty proud of some of our achievements over the past 12 years and I wish the new board all the best with their future challenges."
Mr Dempster also confirmed he would not run for a board seat again.
Mr Seymour is set to serve his first term on the CBH board and his experience includes five years as Shire of Moora president.
He said his plan for the first 12 months was a simple one - return value to growers.
"I thought Rod Madden had done a great job as a director so I'll be trying to keep up his good work," Mr Seymour said.
"Communication with growers, local council and government can always be improved, I'm not saying it's bad at the moment, I'm just saying it can always be improved.
"We take it for granted in Western Australia how lucky we are to have a co-operatives like CBH, so if co-operatives like CBH can perform in a better way, I'm all for it and I'll help as much as I can."
The formal appointment of directors takes place today, Thursday, February 20, at the CBH Annual General Meeting, being held at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre, which is open to all registered CBH members.
All three directors will serve a three-year term.