As your Co-op continues doing the important work of opening a full-service community-owned grocery business, the contribution of volunteers on each committee is crucial. One such committee that has been a steady and often-under-the-radar force is the Rooted Carrot’s finance team.
On a weekly basis the finance team opens mail, deposits checks, pays invoices and enters transactions into Quickbooks. Each month they reconcile the accounts and generate reports for review by the Board. And annually, they are responsible for working with our tax accountant, providing the annual report presentation to member-owners, managing the budget detail, and generating other reports requested by Board. At the writing of this, the committee just finished the FY2022-23 budget. Future projects include working on financial policies and procedures as well as organizing the electronic files.
Finance committee chair and board member Gina Brown is proud of the work and skills that the volunteers involved bring to this committee. “I appreciate how we work as a team to keep the Rooted Carrot Cooperative Market fiscally responsible and organized,” she says. “We have divided up the various duties which works well.” The committee consists of Brown and two other committee members, Deb Bartels and Sally Rayzor.
A self-proclaimed math and numbers geek, Deb Bartels is in charge of record keeping for the team, and describes herself as a good “worker bee.” The biggest challenge she has is the ongoing process of learning Quickbooks. Bartels has been a member of the finance team since she joined the Co-op in 2016 at the urging of a close friend and former co-worker, Joy Thorson who was serving on the Board and membership team. “I used to love the Cotton Top Co-op in downtown Cedar Falls,” she recalls, referring to an earlier co-op model located in the area. “We shopped there regularly when our kids were young, so the idea that our community could once again have a local food co-op and that I could be an owner in that venture was exciting!” She already has benefitted from the membership perk of the discounts various local businesses provide.
If you see Bartels, you’ll likely find her on her bicycle or not far from it. An avid cyclist, she’s a member of the Cedar Valley Cyclists Board. She also loves spending time with her family, particularly in the outdoors – whether biking, hiking, snowshoeing, or simply walk with her dog Guinness. Partaking in women-only adventure trips, She has a vast circle of friends now across the US and Canada. “We have continued to grow our friendships,” she muses. “In fact, in a month, four of us are headed to the Canadian Rockies to explore the beauty there.”
Sally Rayzor’s main responsibilities for the finance team include checking the mailbox, depositing checks, and distributing important documents to various volunteers. A former Board and operations committee member, she is proud of the myriad roles through which she has volunteered with the Co-op. “I help where I’m needed, and, if I don’t know how to do something, I’m always willing to learn,” she says.
When she isn’t volunteering for the Co-op, Rayzor is often with her family – she and her husband are immersed in raising their three daughters. Moving to the area in 2017, they promptly became Co-op member-owners. “It was a great way for our family to get connected to the Cedar Valley,” Rayzor recalls. “We’ve made so many great friends, and I love being involved in the community.”
A retail manager for the UNI Bookstore, Rayzor also devotes time to Cedar Heights Community Presbyterian Church as an elder and is a proud Girl Scout troop leader of troop #3188. She loves exploring the Cedar Valley with her husband and girls. Don’t be surprised if you encounter them at one of her favorite spots, Rudy’s Tacos, a local business featuring locally sourced food and beverages.
A UNI graduate with a degree in accounting, committee chair Gina Brown has ten years of experience in public accounting, non-profit and property management. She lives on a small acreage just outside of Jesup with her husband and two children, and they also share their space with a dog, cat, rooster and several free-range chickens. Gina loves when she has alone time, and some of her passions include gardening, cooking, basketball and musical theatre. Growing up on a small farm, she understands the importance of supporting local farmers, which is why she joined the Co-op. “I am excited to shop at the Rooted Carrot Co-op Market, because it is our store, and I know that the profits will stay within the Cedar Valley!”
Questions about this committee? Please email Financerootedcarrot@gmail.com.