Corporate Information

• Mission
• History
• Leadership
• Executive Team
• Policies

The Cooperative Principle

• The Farm Credit System
• Patronage Refunds

Community Resources

• Community Involvement
• Events
• Links

Partnerships

News, Media & Reports

• Leader Magazine
• News Releases
• Quarterly & Annual Reports

Employment Opportunities

Locations & Contact Info

ArborOne Board of Directors

ArborOne draws on the leadership skills of our Board of Directors, who are elected to three-year terms by vote of eligible stockholders. ArborOne’s Board serves 12 South Carolina counties.

DuPree Atkinson, Jr. - Marion County

Member of the ArborOne Audit Committee. DuPree Atkinson farms 900 acres of tobacco, corn, peanuts, small grain, horse hay, strawberries, asparagus, and soybeans.  Mr. Atkinson serves on the S.C. Farm Bureau Board of Directors, chairman of the S.C. Tobacco Board, and the Greater Mullins Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. He is a Sunday school teacher at Macedonia United Methodist Church and a cubmaster for the Boy Scouts of America. Mr. Atkinson has served on the ArborOne, ACA Board since 1999, reappointed in 2008. Term expires 2011.

Harry B. DuRant - Clarendon County

Member of the ArborOne Compensation Committee. Harry DuRant has been farming full-time since his graduation from Clemson University in 1979. Mr. DuRant, with his brother, operate Double D Farms farming 3,488 acres of tobacco, corn, soybeans, and vegetables including pickle cucumbers, bell peppers, yellow squash, zucchini squash, eggplant and slicer cucumbers. Mr. DuRant is an elder at New Harmony Presbyterian Church. He has served on the ArborOne, ACA Board since 1997, reappointed in 2006. Term expires 2009.

John Lee Newman  - Sumter County

Mr. Newman has been farming full-time since graduating from high school in 1981. His farming operation includes 2,250 acres of tobacco, corn and soybeans, as well as 8 grow-out houses where he raises turkeys for Prestage Farms. Mr. Newman serves as a board member for Sumter County Farm Bureau, is a member of Sumter County Young Farmers and serves on the Sumter County FSA Committee.  Mr. Newman has served on the ArborOne, ACA Board since 2008. Term expires 2011.

William K. (Billy) Phillips - resides in Florence and farms in Sumter and Lee Counties

Billy Phillips has farmed full-time for 34 years. He farms 450 acres of cotton, 650 acres of soybeans and 100 acres of wheat and 250 acres of corn. Mr. Phillips also grows turkeys for Prestage Farms and serves on the board of the South Carolina Tobacco Growers Association. He began his first term on the ArborOne, ACA Board in March, 2007. Term expires 2010.

Jimmy D. Poston - Florence County

Member of the ArborOne Compensation Committee. Jimmy Poston and Triple P Farms, farms 1,183 acres of tobacco, corn, cotton, soybeans and strawberries. He also maintains a herd of 40 brood cows. Mr. Poston is currently a commissioner with the Florence County Soil and Water Conservation District and serves in the capacity of secretary/treasurer. He serves as a director for the Southern States Advisory Board, South Carolina Tobacco Growers Association and the Quality Assurance Committee for the Philip Morris Receiving Station in Mullins, S.C. He has served on the ArborOne, ACA Board since 1994, reappointed in 2006. Term expires 2009.

Harold C. Stowe - appointed Director, Horry County

Member of the ArborOne Audit Committee. Harold Stowe is President and on the Board of Managers of Canal Holdings, LLC in Conway, S.C. He serves on the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation of Miami Florida (Myrtle Beach Advisory Committee), Kingston Presbyterian Church Board of Deacons, Litchfield Enterprises Board of Directors, Chairman of the Myrtle Beach Air Base Redevelopment Authority, SCANA Corporation Board of Directors, and New South Companies, Inc. Board of Directors. He began serving on the ArborOne, ACA Board in 2003, reappointed in 2007 for a three year term. Term expires 2010.

James (Mickey) Ward - Florence County

Member of the ArborOne Compensation Committee. Mickey Ward has been farming for 35 years. He produces timber, cotton and soybeans on 2000 acres. He served on the Southern States Advisory Board and the FSA Committee for 13 years, serving as Chairman for 10 years and on the Marketing Quota Review Committee for 10 years. He has served on the ArborOne, ACA Board since 1998, reappointed in 2007 for a three year term. Term expires 2010.

Kelly Wiseman - appointed Director

Member of the ArborOne Audit Committee. Mrs. Wiseman graduated from Auburn University in 1991 with a B.S. in Accounting. She worked in public accounting for fifteen years focusing on banking, mortgage banking and Farm Credit institutions in the southeast. She serves on the Finance Committee of the Church of the Resurrection in Greenwood, South Carolina. She began her first term on the ArborOne, ACA Board in April, 2007. Term expires 2010.

ArborOne Audit Committee Charter

The Board of Directors of ArborOne, ACA (Association) has created a committee of directors to be known as the AUDIT COMMITTEE with its goals and objectives, composition, term of office, and duties and responsibilities, as follows.

Purpose: The primary goal of the Committee will be to assist the Board of Directors in fulfilling its oversight responsibilities relating to the quality of financial reporting and internal controls of the Association.

While the Audit Committee has the powers set forth in the Charter, it is not the duty of the Committee to plan or conduct audits or to determine that the Association’s financial statements are complete and accurate and are in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. This is the responsibility of management and the external accountant.

The Committee’s primary duties and responsibilities are to:

Oversee and appraise the quality of the audit effort of the Association’s internal auditors and those of its external auditors;

Maintain, by scheduling regular meetings, open lines of communications among the board, its internal auditors and independent auditors to exchange views and information as well as confirm their respective authority and responsibilities;

Serve as an independent and objective party to review the financial information presented by management to shareholders, regulators, and the general public;

Determine the adequacy of the Association’s administrative, operating, and internal accounting and credit controls and evaluate adherence;

Review the Farm Credit Administration examination results;

Monitor the Association’s compliance with legal/regulatory requirements.

The Committee will fulfill these responsibilities by carrying out the activities and processes enumerated in the following sections of this Charter. In doing so, the Committee has full access to all books, records, facilities and personnel of the Association and the power to retain outside counsel or other experts considered necessary in discharging its oversight role.

Composition: The Board shall annually confirm the membership of the Audit Committee, which will be comprised of at least three directors, each of whom will be independent of the senior management and operating executives of the Association and free from any relationships which might, in the opinion of the board of directors, be construed as a conflict of interest. Members of the Committee should have a working familiarity with general business and/or basic finance and accounting practices, and at least one member of the Committee should have accounting or related financial management expertise. One of the members shall be elected chairperson of the committee by the board of directors.

Term of Membership: Each member of the Committee shall serve no more than five, three-year terms. The members will be appointed annually. The chairperson shall be elected annually by the full board of directors.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

(1) Documents, Financial Reporting and Compliance Review

The Committee shall hold at least two meetings per year, and such additional meetings as the chairperson of the committee shall require in order to meet the following duties:

Ensure that an audit is conducted which ensures the association’s compliance with statutory requirements;

Review and approve the audit plan of the internal auditors;

Evaluate the effectiveness of both the internal and external audit effort through regular meetings and shared correspondence with each respective group;

Determine that no management restrictions are being placed upon either the internal or external auditors;

Evaluate the adequacy and effectiveness of the Association’s administrative, operating and accounting policies through active communications with the operating management, internal audit, and external accountants;

Evaluate the adequacy of the Association’s internal accounting control system by review of the written reports from the internal and external auditors and monitor management’s response and actions to correct any noted deficiencies;

Review accounting and financial reports to be made to the public prior to their release, as practical;

Review all regulatory reports submitted to the Association and monitor management’s response to them;

Require periodic reports from management, the external accountants, and internal auditors on any significant proposed regulatory, accounting, or reporting issue to assess the potential impact upon the Association’s financial reporting process;

Review and approve all significant accounting changes;

Identify and direct any special projects or investigations deemed necessary;

Understand how management develops financial information, and the nature and extent of internal and external auditor involvement. Discuss with the external accountants their judgments about the quality and appropriateness of the accounting principles applied in its financial reporting:

On a regular basis, meet separately with the internal auditors to discuss any matters that the committee or internal audit believes should be discussed privately;

Review the effectiveness of the system for monitoring compliance with laws and regulations and the results of management’s investigation and follow-up (including disciplinary action) of any instances of noncompliance;

Obtain, as needed, updates from management and Association legal counsel regarding compliance matters;

Review annually the Association’s Conflict of Interest policy and ensure that management has established a system to enforce this policy;

Review annually the Association’s management Code of Ethics for management;

Review and assess the adequacy of the committee charter annually, requesting board approval for proposed changes;

Confirm annually that all responsibilities outlined in this charter have been carried out.

Maintain 3 year retention of documents.

(2) Independent Accountants

Report to the full board the appointment of the external accountant for the coming year;

On an annual basis, the Committee should obtain and review a formal written statement from the external accountants that discusses all significant relationships the accountants have with the Association to determine the accountants’ independence;

Review and approve the audit plan (engagement letter) of the external accountants;

Discuss with the independent accountants the matters required to be discussed by Statement of Auditing Standards No. 61, including, but not limited to:

i. The quality and appropriateness of the accounting principles and underlying estimates used in the preparation of the Association’s financial statements, and

ii. The clarity of financial disclosures in the Association’s financial statements.

As deemed necessary, consult with the external accountants in executive session to discuss internal controls and the fullness and accuracy of the organization’s financial statements.

Meet separately, on an as needed basis, with the external auditors to discuss any matters that the committee or auditors believe should be discussed privately; including problems or disagreements the accountants may have encountered with management or internal auditors during the annual review.

Review any significant recommendations in the management letter provided by the external accountants and the Association’s response to the letter.

Provide avenue of communication among the independent accountants, financial and senior management, the internal auditors, the Board of directors, and the Farm Credit System Audit Committee.

Learn more about ArborOne’s talented staff