The Clare Hayes Leadership Award is presented annually to a Sunderland Co-op employee in recognition of excellence in leadership as demonstrated through their work over the past year on a specific project, activity, or with a team.
The selection criteria consists of the following core attributes:
Demonstrated a collaborative leadership style
(for a specific project, activity or with a team as identified above) Created a positive work environment using appropriate leadership skills Inspired, motivated, mentored and coached others to aid in their development and results Led a project, team or task to outstanding results Demonstrates the values of the Co-op on a daily basisIt is my honour to announce that the fiscal year 2023 Clare Hayes Award recipient is… Ashley Ferren!
Above Photo - Peter Stanbury, GM (left) presenting Ashley Ferren (right) with the Clare Hayes Plaque at Sunderland Co-op
Ashley started at Sunderland Co-op as a Livestock Nutrition Consultant for the Feed Division in the summer of 2020. She grew up on a farm in Cavan where she was an active member in 4-H and gained experience working on a variety of livestock operations in the area. She has also been a Registered Veterinary Technician since 2009 and has maintained her RVT status today.
I have been impressed by Ashley's growth & leadership over the last 3 years. The Feed Division was missing a qualified Small Ruminant consultant and Ashley has successfully bridged that gap. She works closely with the nutrition team at Wallenstein Feed & Supply, and Vriens Nutrition Consulting to provide nutrition services to our sheep, goat, and beef customers, Within the last couple of years, Ashley has also taken on some farm operations with specialty species including elk, red deer, bison and alpaca. Even with an agriculture background, coming into a sales and consulting role is an extremely challenging and at time overwhelming task, however she has proven herself to her customers and colleagues alike.
Ashley has shown leadership in a variety of situations and responsibilities in her role. She took the initiative to create marketing materials showcasing our sheep and goat feed products for the feed division and is always willing to help staff and customers with questions they have or to help make recommendations. She is a wealth of knowledge and has provided training to front counter staff on our sheep and goat products. Ashley is always looking at ways to improve our feed products offerings and goes above and beyond to help us provide the best products to our customers. Whether it is updating formulas to offer better nutritional solutions, or bringing in new products to floor stock, we now have an excellent line up of sheep, goat and beef feeds and minerals, which Ashley has helped shape.
This past January, Ashley was instrumental in organizing a Small Ruminant Seminar with our Feed Division and she even tied-in other divisions to attend and participate, all with the mindset of promoting our products, services, and community of farmers, She took the lead on this project by coming up with topics, arranging speakers (and even giving a presentation herself) and inviting customers. It was a huge success with over 90 participants in attendance, This event took a huge amount of time and effort above and beyond her normal day-to-day duties and required her to communicate effectively and work very closely with other staff on the project.
Ashley is a team player and is always a pleasure to be around. She is highly driven, professional, ambitious, organized and always ready to take on the next task and we look forward to seeing what she can accomplish in the future with Sunderland Co-op.
Please join me in congratulating Ashley for this achievement and a sincere thank-you for her contributions to our business.
- Peter Stanbury
General Manager -