Rocky Mountain Supply Customer Appreciation Day
 | Author:
Nancy Marks, Reporter
Nancy Marks: MT43 News Secretary and News Editor |
Rocky Mountain Supply Customer Appreciation Day Nancy Marks, Reporter Rocky Mountain Supply will celebrate its first anniversary in its new building with a Customer Appreciation Day on May 20. The day is always a hit in Townsend with a free lunch beginning at 11 a.m. The business moved from 310 South Front St. to its current location in 2022.
The large agricultural, sporting goods and clothing store employs twenty- two people according to Manager Robert Michael. Special services provided also include a greenhouse, seed, fertilizer and bulk fuel and propane. Michael has managed the store since 2016.
Rocky Mountain Supply was formed in 1999 as a merger between Gallatin Farmers Company, Belgrade and CO-OP Supply based in Dillon. The two original companies were formed in the l930s as cooperatives (customer-owned) to sell area farmers less expensive gasoline and diesel fuel. Rocky Mountain Supply is now run by a board of directors who are agricultural producers representing the communities they serve.
In 1974 CO-Op Supply broke ground for its new service station and retail farm supply store in Townsend along Front Street where Full Belli Deli has its store. Dave Campbell was the manager at that time, according to files from the Broadwater County Museum.
Other managers who ran one of the largest businesses in Townsend were Dave Middlemas, Libby Campbell, Carla Ahern, Bill Jappe and Lloyd (Punk) Girdler.
In 2001 Rocky Mountain Supply formed a joint venture with rural electric cooperative Vigilante Electric, Dillon for the purpose of serving members and customers with propane and related services. This joint venture is Montana Energy Alliance.
The business has served its members and customers by sharing the success of the cooperative model through its patronage dividends returned to members each year along with the reinvestment of improved facilities such as the new one in Townsend. “We will look to continue to expand our presence throughout Southwest Montana by offering more products and services to its members and customers,” Chief Executive Officer Brad Gjermo said.
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PhotoCredit: Rocky Mountain Supply and the Broadwater County Museum
Image 1 Caption: Original CO-OP Supply building on Front Street where Full Belli Deli is currently located.
Image 2 Caption: The Farm Supply location was moved to 310 Front Street, shown here in the l980’s as CENEX Supply.
Image 3 Caption: The newest Rocky Mountain Supply location is at 7847 Highway 297 south of Townsend.
