At a time when many rural communities are shrinking because bright young people are moving to the city, we provide jobs for university graduates. Beyond employment, we have a special role to play in rural communities. And it's more than writing cheques to support worthwhile causes.

Some of the ways in which we contribute to our local communities are:

• We source as much of our supplies as possible from local suppliers.
• Our employees work to support a rural way of life by volunteering extensively in 4-H, farm safety programs, and in schools.
• We participate in emergency planning and response beyond our own operations in smaller towns and agricultural areas that often do not have the resources to support extensive infrastructure. In 2006, a team of firefighters from our Carseland, Alberta operations helped the local fire department fight an extensive grass fire.
• We supply water to farmers for irrigation at our locations that require cooling ponds.