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Rocky Mountain Supply - A Company of the Community
Rocky Mountain Supply – A Company of the Community
Rocky Mountain Supply proudly stands as one of the longest-standing businesses in the Gallatin Valley! Its roots date back to when it was formed in 1931 in Bozeman. As an agricultural-based cooperative, it was started in the Dust Bowl days of the 1930s by farmers and ranchers coming together to form a business they owned to provide critical products and services to their operations at a competitive cost. Gallatin Farmers Company was the predecessor company of Rocky Mountain Supply. Gallatin Farmers Company moved to Belgrade in the 1960s at the current location of Bar 3 Brewing & BBQ. In the early 1990s, they purchased the site of its current retail operation at 350 Jackrabbit Lane in Belgrade. Since then, Gallatin Farmers Company added locations in Townsend and Ennis. Then, in 1999, Gallatin Farmers Company merged with another locally owned cooperative, Co-op Supply of Dillon. This merger formed Rocky Mountain Supply as it is today.
Rocky Mountain Supply is still owned by the communities it serves today, as it was formed in the 1930s. The company has grown and evolved significantly in almost one hundred years. The foundation of the business still lies in its agricultural roots; however, the business and patrons it serves have changed as the communities have changed. In the early years, we exclusively served farmers and ranchers. Today, we continue to serve farmers and ranchers, but also commercial & industrial entities such as trucking, excavating, and mining companies, as well as your average consumer looking for the products and services the company offers.
When the company was formed in the 1930s, supplying petroleum-related products such as gasoline, diesel fuel, and lubricants was a product the farmers and ranchers were looking for to be sourced more quickly and competently. Over time, as the cooperative expanded and gained additional members, more products and services were added, such as livestock feed, fertilizer, animal health products, crop protection products, and seeds. As the urban areas of the Gallatin Valley continued to grow, more products and services were added to serve this growing membership base. This includes hardware, pet supplies, convenience store items, western & work wear clothing & footwear, and sporting goods (hunting, fishing, & camping).
Today, Rocky Mountain Supply operates in the Montana communities of Belgrade, Dillon, Townsend, Ennis, and Helena. It serves customers and members in a 250-square-mile area in southwest Montana. It has approximately 18,000 members, with about 6,000 actively doing business with the cooperative. As a locally owned cooperative, we are governed by a seven-member board of directors elected from the company’s agricultural producer members. The company’s profits are in part distributed back to the members who do business with the company each year. For example, Rocky Mountain Supply will distribute just over $3 million in patronage dividends back to its members in 2024. Of that amount, almost $1.8 million of it will be distributed in the form of cash. The company retains the balance as equity in the patron’s name, thus making the patron an owner. This equity is used to help finance the company’s operations and replace and improve the assets that serve the members. As determined by the board of directors, this equity is retired and paid to the member in cash in future years. For example, we plan to retire approximately $1.25 million of equity back to the members who received the equity from 2000 through 2007. This means over $3 million in cash will be distributed back to the membership in 2024. This combines the cash portion of the patronage dividends and equity retirement. For example, in 2023, Rocky Mountain Supply paid a patronage dividend of approximately fifteen cents per gallon on gasoline and diesel fuel purchased at one of its four retail stores. Of the fifteen cents per gallon, about six cents per gallon was paid back in cash. You will not find many businesses as local as Rocky Mountain Supply anywhere. We are owned by the people in our communities, supported by those in our communities, and the profits go back to those in our communities! Please contact us if you have any questions or want to learn more about being part of Rocky Mountain Supply!
We would like to thank the people and the communities we serve for being a part of and so supportive of Rocky Mountain Supply. We have been around for almost one hundred years and plan to be around for another one hundred years and beyond!