Taking on the role of general manager for the Meadow Lake Co-op has been somewhat of a homecoming for Brent Bushell. Bushell assumed the GM role June 16 and, since his arrival more than two months ago, said he’s felt nothing but a warm welcome from everyone he has met. “It’s been fantastic here so far,” Bushell said. “It was a planned, targeted move to come to Meadow Lake. I was born and raised a Saskatchewan boy, but my wife, Patricia, and I moved to Alberta in 2004 to give that a go. Alberta was really good to us, but both of us are in the twilight of our careers. She’s actually retiring this year (from her role as a finance assistant for Top Health Ingredients), and we had always thought about coming back to Saskatchewan because we have three older kids and grandkids back here in Saskatchewan as well.” When his wife decided to retire this year, Bushell said they had a discussion about what the future would hold for them.

“I grew up in Nipawin, so the northern Saskatchewan provincial forest boundary has always been my cup of tea,” he added. “We wanted to get back to the lakes, the outdoorsy type of position through Saskatchewan. Also, I actually started my career 35-plus years ago with the Co-op, and was with the Co-op for the first five years of my management career. I thought it would be ironic to not only have the opportunity to come back to northern Saskatchewan, but to also finish what I started all those years ago. It just so happened the Meadow Lake Co-op general manager position was available. I put my name in and I thank the Co-op board for giving me the opportunity to come home as I call it. Saskatchewan is near and dear to both of us.”

Bushell succeeds former Meadow Lake Co-op GM Caralee Strome who recently accepted the general manager position at the Wetaskiwin Co-op. Prior to accepting his new role, Bushell lived in Edmonton and worked for a company called the Western Hog Exchange. It’s basically a producer-owned, not-for-profit that dealt with marketing hogs,” he said. “My career has always had one foot squarely in construction and the other foot squarely in agriculture. There’s also been a whole sprinkling of retail and not-for-profits, I used to be the executive director for Business Link, which dealt with entrepreneurship and start-ups all across Alberta. It’s been a sprinkling of a number of different things, but I’ve brought a variety of skill sets with me, and I’m very excited to be back in northern Saskatchewan.”

Bushell went on to reiterate how welcoming the people of Meadow Lake have been since his arrival. “I don’t think I have met a person who isn’t welcoming these past 10 weeks, so that’s encouraging,” he said. “When you leave and move to a bigger centre, you tend to lose that community feel… As soon as I came to Meadow Lake, everyone has welcomed me, I have inherited a fantastic team here at the Co-op – on both the management and employee side – and, during my time here, I hope to not only move the Meadow Lake Co-operative Association forward, but also help build Meadow Lake. There’s a lot of progress going on here.” In closing, Bushell said he looks forward to meeting even more people during his time in Meadow Lake. “I’m a people person to my heart, so if anybody who hasn’t had the opportunity, please feel free to drop by the administration office and say ‘hello,’” he said. “I absolutely love meeting people and having discussions about Meadow Lake, and everything that encompasses us here.”