Press release from WNC Communities:
The Board of Directors for WNC Communities has chosen a new lessee for the WNC Regional Livestock Market in Canton. Doctors Steven and Melissa Matthews, the veterinarian group that currently operates the Cleveland County Agriculture Livestock Exchange in Shelby, will be the new market operators with the goal of being in place for the first Monday sale in April.
The announcement was formally made at the WNC Regional Livestock Market on Monday, March 1st at a presentation preceding the weekly sale. Dr. Steven Matthews was introduced and addressed the attendees. The presentation can be viewed via YouTube on WNC Communities’ Video channel, accessed through the website www.wnccommunities.org.
In selecting the new operator for the livestock center, WNC Communities completed the entire selection process in a very short period of time. Meeting the timeline was crucial to ensure that not one market day would be missed in the transition from old to new operator. WNC Communities formed a selection committee and sought out qualified candidates, evaluated proposals, reached out and received feedback from stakeholders and chose the new operator for the livestock market in Canton, all in the span of just one month.
“WNC Communities was extremely pleased to have received proposals from five qualified candidates, all of whom had the experience to run a successful market.” said L.T. Ward, Vice President of WNC Communities. “With careful evaluation of the proposals and using input gathered from a forum of stakeholders including producers, livestock committee leaders from across the western counties, Extension agents and other interested parties, the deciding factor in this closely competitive process was who possessed the best overall program for working with local producers to gain patronization of the market.”
Jimmy Cowan, WNC Communities board member and chair of the advisory committee that led the search, added “Producers clearly stated their expectations to get the best market price, with a reasonable selling fee and an enjoyable selling experience. They also see a need for special sales including the sale of small ruminants, which is a strong suit of the Shelby market.” Cowan also noted that expectations were to select an operator who would work well with the educational programs for producers and youth.
WNC Communities, a nonprofit 501c3 that has worked with livestock producers in western North Carolina for over 70 years, initiated the project and worked with public and private parties to raise $3.2 million to build the state-of-the-art facility with the goal of providing a long-term, viable market for hundreds of area livestock farmers. WNC Communities holds the asset and leases the market to a for-profit operator. Since opening in 2011, the WNC RLC has sold over 142,000 head of cattle for over $121 million. For the past 10 years, John Queen, owner of the Southeast Livestock Exchange, successfully ran the market. In January, Mr. Queen announced he’d be stepping down as operator. He will continue to operate the market until March 31st.
The first sale under the new operation led by Dr. Matthews will be held on Monday, April 5th. Dr. Matthews also announced that there will be a goat, sheep, chicken and other small animal sale on Saturday, April 24.
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