Dear Llama Owners,
 

The ILR Board of Directors prides itself on listening to our members and making the ILR what the members want it to be. Ten years ago, the ILR Board invested in your building (click to see specifics) that was paid for within a year and has nearly doubled in value as well as generated income for the ILR. Five years ago, the ILR invested in programming for web-based services and advertising opportunities for our members. In response to your input, we have also developed the Universal Awards Program, Incentive Fund and most recently, the ILR Show Division. Our first Annual International Gathering of Friends and Champions Show generated not only income but enthusiasm and camaraderie for your registry and our members. We also reopened the Alpaca Division so that we now register all South American Camelid species.
 

The efforts of YOU as members helping to guide the ILR Board, our Registrar Jan Wassink and our devoted staff (click to see staff), has put the ILR at a level equal to the top livestock registries in the country. Our members’ services parallel much larger and older livestock registries. We adopted the motto “We’re Listening” a few years ago and have worked hard to listen to our members as well as be transparent in our actions and decisions.
 

At the recent National Pedigreed Livestock Cooperative meetings, most registries reported a 10-20% annual decrease in registrations/transfers over the past five years. The economic downturn that our nation has faced in the recent years certainly has impacted all livestock registries as well as producers. The ILR has unfortunately seen a decrease in registrations and transfers averaging 7-10% per year. We have streamlined our operations and reduced staffing hours to offset the decline in income. The ILR currently has over $750,000 in assets with our building in Kalispell, computer systems, office equipment and software development. We are solvent and secure. The Board recently decided to take out a short term loan against the equity in the ILR building to secure working capital during this time of declining income from registrations. We do not want to cut services to our members, and feel this approach is merely accessing our “savings” from the investment in the building. We are also re-evaluating our fee structure for membership and exploring ways to encourage llama owners to become ILR members.
 

The ILR provided services to roughly 3,000 active llama owners over the past year. We do not require membership to register llamas, but we do give discounts on registration to our members. For ideas how you can help your ILR, click here.
 

The ILR is owned by YOU, our ILR Members. Supporting your ILR and its programs supports the llama community by producing materials and providing staff and programs that benefit all llama owners. The ILR Board will continue to listen to our members to guide us as well as keep open lines of communication with our membership and llama owners. Thank you for your support and we look forward to continuing to serve you in the future.

Respectfully,
 

The ILR Board: Karen Baum, Mary Jo Miller, Kathi McKinney, Bill Safreed, Kristy Brown
and Jan Wassink, Registrar
 

ALONE we struggle; TOGETHER we thrive!