Lance Bean, certified public accountant with Hoisington & Bean PA in Norway, speaks Feb. 4 at the annual meeting of the Farmington Farmers Union shareholders at Trinity United Methodist Church on Farmington Falls Road in Farmington. He said 2024 was another good year for the hardware store with sales up 2.6%. Pam Harnden/Livermore Falls Advertiser

FARMINGTON — Shareholders in the Farmington Farmers Union hardware store approved a 16.75% trade allowance for 2024 at their annual meeting Feb. 4.

There will be no dividends on shares and no trade allowance for shares with total sales of less than $100.

Lance Bean, a certified public accountant with Hoisington & Bean PA in Norway, said, “2024 was another good year for Farmington Farmers Union. Sales increased 2.6%, 71% of all sales were by members, $2.8 million out of the $3.95 million in sales were by members.”

Bean said costs of sales stayed flat with expenses increasing about 13%. “Most of the increase is from labor and labor associated costs,” he said. There is no long-term debt and debt decreased about 5%, he said.

For 2024, there is $452,990 available to pay back to shareholders, Bean said.

Shareholders come from beyond Franklin County, including some from Massachusetts who purchase items in the summer.

Shareholder Clayton King asked about the $78,806 under accounts payable, an increase of almost $69,000.

Bean said it was due to timing of bills and includes about $50,000 in inventory that came in at the end of the year. The ratio of assets to liabilities is very strong, he said, with about $1.4 million in assets and $500,000 in liabilities. “There is very little debt compared to assets.”

The trade allowance approved last year was 19%, according to the Franklin Journal.

Previously, Farmington Farmers Union reported a trade allowance of 16% for 2020 and 2021 and 17.5% in 2022. In years prior, it averaged between 8% and 12% with some years even lower, it was reported.

In other business, Jeffrey Wright was reelected clerk of the board of directors. Erik Johnson was elected to the board to succeed his father-in-law, L. Herbert York, who died July 9, 2024.

“Our manager, Logan Nutting knows just about everybody who comes in the door,” board Chair Craig Jordan said after the meeting. “He speaks to them on a first-name basis. He does a wonderful job greeting people, making sure people get what they need.”

Jordan said Nutting has put together a good staff.