KEVIN MCLAREN RETIREMENT ANNOUNCEMENT
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Allison Bagley
Phone: (540) 885-1265
Email: ABagley@AugustaCoop.com
Augusta Co-op General Manager Announces Plans to Retire in January 2024
STAUNTON, VA (November 1, 2022) – Augusta Cooperative Farm Bureau, Inc.’s fifth General Manager, Kevin McLaren, has announced his plans to retire in January 2024. At that time, he will have served Augusta Co-op for more than three decades.
“Fourteen months from now, it will be very difficult for me to cease doing what I love,” McLaren shared. “However, I look forward to spending more time with my wife, Wendy, and our two children, Kaylee and Alec.”
McLaren joined Augusta Co-op in 1990 as a Field Representative. One year later, he was promoted to the Weyers Cave Store Manager, and then into a multi-division management role, including Agronomy Manager, Field Sales Manager and Credit Manager. In February, 2006, he was named General Manager. Prior to Augusta Co-op, he was a farm manager for Quercus Farms, a registered Limousin operation in Gay, Georgia along with Fairmont Farms in Keswick, Virginia. In 1984, McLaren earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Animal Science from Penn State University.
In his initial months as General Manager, McLaren identified his goals for Augusta Co-op, which included improving product quality and availability, committing service to its loyal member patrons, striving to be staff centered, strengthening the feed and agronomic divisions, and continuing to foster growth and expansion in an ever-changing work environment.
Some highlights of his tenure include expanding Augusta Co-op’s southern presence in Bedford by purchasing Bedford Agri Service in 2000 which later moved to its current location in Moneta in 2007. In 2014, McLaren led the transition of three retail stores to Augusta True Value offering members and the general public a more diverse selection of products. In 2015, starting what is now over an 8-million-dollar business, Greener Valley Supply in Verona, Virginia, which specializes in wholesale distribution of turf, ornamental, agricultural and landscape products. McLaren was also instrumental in the creation of ASM Ag Services, LLC, founded in 2021 through a joint partnership between Augusta Co-op and Smoky Mountain Farmers Co-op, which now operates two store locations in Bristol and Marion, Virginia.
Augusta Co-op Board of Directors President John Bowers praised McLaren’s tenure and impact. “During his time as General Manager, the cooperative has experienced tremendous growth in infrastructure and technology, staff enhancements and corporate diversification.”
Further, the Board is pleased to announce that it has secured a new General Manager, Brad Brown, who has worked at Augusta Co-op for over 15 years. Brown will continue his current role as the Assistant General Manager and Retail Division Purchasing Manager through December 2023.
To learn more about Augusta Cooperative visit AugustaCoop.com/ or @AugustaCooperativeFarmBureau/ on Facebook.
Founded in 1929 and headquartered in the Shenandoah Valley, with five branch stores in Virginia (Staunton, Weyers Cave, Fairfield, Bedford & Scottsville), the Augusta Cooperative Farm Bureau, Inc. (Augusta Co-op) is a leading supplier of rural and agriculture lifestyle products. Their diversified platform is the foundation for a variety of items such as feed, seed, livestock equipment, fertilizer, hardware, pet food & pet supplies, animal health, lawn & garden, clothing and much more. The Augusta Cooperative currently serves over 25 counties in Virginia and West Virginia.
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