Jack Nicholson, CEO of Otter Co-op

Otter Co-op’s board is elected by its members; the person who runs the day-to-day business is the CEO. Since 2010 that has been Jack Nicholson. This page sets out what has been published about him, from the co-op’s own reports and the local papers. For the co-op itself (the stores, the history, how membership works) see our page on Otter Co-op.

Background

According to the Langley Advance Times in 2018, Nicholson is originally from Ontario and was educated at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology. Before Otter he held leadership roles at Mayerthorpe Co-op in Alberta, at Federated Co-operatives Limited, and at Riverbend Co-op in Saskatchewan. In Langley he has also held leadership roles with the Aldergrove Rotary Club and with Langley Meals on Wheels, the same article says.

At Otter Co-op

• 2010. Becomes CEO, in January. In 2018 the Advance Times described the co-op as about $200 million in yearly sales with roughly 390 employees across ten locations.
• 2018. Named the Large Company winner at the BC CEO Awards, presented by Business in Vancouver, Deloitte and TEC Canada. That October, Otter Co-op was named Large Business of the Year at the Greater Langley Chamber’s Business Excellence Awards, where the paper described it as a $223-million business.
• 2022. At the co-op’s 100th-year AGM, he reported $375 million in sales for 2021, with about $5.9 million returned to members in patronage payments and 6,600 new members joining over the year. The Aldergrove Star also reported more than $450,000 going to sponsorships, scholarships and other community initiatives, and a plan for one hundred $1,000 donations to non-profits during the anniversary year. By December 2022 the BC Co-operative Association listed Otter as having close to 800 team members.
• 2026. At the June 3, 2026 AGM, the co-op reported a return to profitability for 2025: net earnings of $2.672 million, a turnaround of almost $7.8 million, on total sales of about $472 million. The Aldergrove Star reported that the board approved the maximum allowable profit-share under the B.C. Co-op Act, $1.033 million, based on one per cent of members’ 2025 fuel purchases. He told the paper that last year the co-op supported over 140 organizations across its trading area, along with its Grade 12, Mature and 4-H scholarship programs.

Chamber president, 2017 to 2019

Nicholson is listed as Greater Langley Chamber of Commerce president for 2017 to 2019 in our Chamber board page, which carries the Chamber’s full list of past presidents. In October 2018 the Advance Times photographed him at the Business Excellence Awards in that role, alongside the Chamber’s executive director. The Chamber itself is covered on our Greater Langley Chamber of Commerce page.

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