The Future of our Co-op
I want to start by recapping what has happened over the last 5 months. With the loss of the 7th & Main Site and no new site prospects (other potential ones had failed) the Board of Directors knew it was time to reach out to membership to gauge support in our Co-op moving forward. Two special member-owner meetings were held-one in July and one in August to accommodate busy schedules. A recording of the presentations were sent out to all member-owners. You can review the recording here. (Note: skip the ads to get to the presentation.)
Member-owners were asked to make an advisory vote on whether or not we should move forward with the goal of opening a full-service grocery store co-op. The Board would consider this vote and the number of member-owners who accepted our call to action to get involved in the core organization—committees, board members, etc.
The Advisory Vote took place online Aug. 15-31 through Election Runner. Here are the results:
- 382 members out of 1203 members voted (31.8%)
- 271 voted Option A/move forward (71% of those who voted)
- 111 voted Option B/do not move forward (29% of those who voted)
At the special member-owner meetings, the board asked member-owners to sign up to attend an informational meeting about the core organizational needs of our Co-op. We had a great response and 60 people signed up to attend the meeting. On September 6th, 25 people attended. We had at least 15 people sign up to join a committee or complete specific tasks. You can find the slides here for information that was shared in that meeting.
At the September 6th meeting we did not have anyone show interest in applying for the Board of Directors. We had four spots available. We received only one application by the September 17th deadline. We extended the deadline to October 15th and reached out to member-owners with this information. We did receive five applications.
We are very encouraged by the number of people who attended the summer meetings and their willingness to talk about the Co-op and share the story with others. We are very thankful to those who have volunteered to manage volunteers, write grants, reach out to business partners, and join our Communications/Membership and Community Relations committees.
At this time WE WILL BE MOVING FORWARD with our goal of opening a full-service grocery store co-op! Other start-up co-ops have done it after 10 years and we can, too! However, there is a lot of work to be done….
We still need more core organizers! For several years we have been operating with not enough committed member-owners to make our goal a reality. We need:
- Project manager for the Site Committee
- Capital campaign committee members and leadership
- Finance committee members including one or two people tasked with finding a traditional bank loan and a secondary loan
- One person to fill a vacant 2-year term on the Board of Directors.
- People willing to apply for the Board of Directors each August. Every year we will have three positions available. Board members should not be expected to serve multiple terms.
We also need you to be an active member-owner! Here are a few other ways you can get involved:
- Stay informed about our Co-op and share accurate, updated information with others.
- Share with others why you joined the co-op and why you want to see one in our community.
- Participate in our social media blast. More details are in this edition of the Garlic Press.
- Share, like, and COMMENT on our social media posts.
- Attend events to help build our community.
- Share ideas for events or best days/times to host events at info@rootedcarrot.coop.
Please reach out to info@rootedcarrot.coop if you have any questions.
Jodie Huegerich,
President, Board of Directors