A DRAMATIC CAREER.

Shannon News, 5 September 1924, Page 3

A DRAMATIC CAREER.

\ RISE OF GREAT CONCERN. MR GOODFELLOW,’S RETIREMENT. HAMILTON, Sept. 1. The commercial development qf the New Zealand Co-operative Dairy Company Ltd., in ttoe last decade has been largely due to the activities of Mr Wiiiiam.GQQdfellow, wtoo has now retired from th e active management of the business. ! Probably no more dramatic rise in , business circles has ever occurred- in j New Zealand than that of Mr Good-1 fellow. Fifteen years ago toe trudged the countryside in an effort to secure supplies for his first factory. To-day he is the head of a co-operative organisation comprising 800 Q active suppliers, owning 62 factories and creameries which produce approximately 30,000 tons of dairy produce, worth £4,500,000 a year. In 1909 fate fiirew Mr Goodfellow into dairying business in a strange manner. While operating a hardware store in Hamilton, he sold a butter-making plant to a customer. Through a. land deal failing this customer wag unahle to complete payment, and Mr Goodfellow had to retake possession. Becoming interested in the possibilities of the dairying industry, he decided, in conjunction with a practical partner, to erect and operate the plant himself. Mr Goodfellow entered the business at the right time. The development on creamery fines wag limited by the distance w.hicto it was practicable and profitable to haul witiqjg milk, v The home separator, desfined to revolutionise the inducrv, was just being introduced, and it was then that Mr Goodfellow took the deciding step of his career. Foreseeing the effect of the adaptation of maoninery to farm work, he visualised what it would do for dairying. He Was right. Improvements on the farm were followed by improvements in the factory, and the coming of the age of machinery iif fhe industry enabhd successive records of attainment io be rapidly reached. The amalgamation effected *in 1919 saw Mr goodfellow Placed at the ht ad ot the combined company as* managing direct w. Since (then he has guided it through its steady expansion. Combined /ithhis appreciation of the value Qf mass production m lessening costs arid improving marketing capacity, • Mr Goodfellow knows the need for high quality in the goods manufactured. He Will retain the position of managing director, and will act in an advisory capacity, hut will reside fn Auckland. Be will also supervise the dried milk, coal, and marketing branches of the company’s business.

The new manager, Mr A. J. Sinclair, is .a y>o,ung man. to. he holding so responsible a position, being only 36 years of age, but those who know him, best feel that he is quite competent to effectively keep fhe company on its present progressive course. He underwent a course of accountancy at the Glasgow Athenaeum and studied law at the Glasgow University. He is also, a skilled shorthand writer. On arriving in New Zealand in 191 L he was appointed secretary to Sir Arthur (then the Hon.) Myers, with whom he was associated for four years. Realising the possibilities of the dairying industry, toe obtained the appointment Of secretary to. the Rongotea Dairy Company, near Palmerston North, in 1915, and soon became a familiar figure at the conferences of dairymen at Palmerston North and Wellington. During the time the dairy companies were at variance with the Government on account of the butter-fat levy, Mr Sinclair acted as secretary to the association of dairy factories in the Wellington' province, supplying the local market. In 1919 Mr Goodfellow offered him thg position of secretary of Zeaiandia Milkfoods, Limited, a company which has s.iuce amalgamated with the parent concern. Four months later, Mr Sinclair was appointed assistant-manager qf the New Zealand Co-operative Dairy Company, Ltd.*, and has held that position ever sin.ee.