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A Director's Chairby Virginia McEwen When I was asked to write the Director's Chair for this month, I put it off until after the Member Dinner on November 10 so I could start off on a Coop high. And what a high it was: About 250 working members and staff plus many, many children, a really roomy space to sit and chat and a room for kids to play, music, flowers, and, never to be forgotten, that delicious food. There was something indefinable about seeing so much of the Coop together. This will be, I hope, the beginning of a concerted effort by the Board to keep members in touch with each other, with the Board and with what's going on in the Coop. For the last several months the Board has worked on expanding its own ranks while keeping on track for a new manager. We are now at full strength (nine!) and have decided to take a step back from the traditional general manager form of management. Together, the Board and the department managers are working on a new management structure for the store. We have four candidates, all connected to Honest Weight, who seem flexible and interested as the job possibilities evolve. Soon all that will jell. In the meantime, the Board is committed to setting up and completing a strategic planning program for the Coop. HWFC is growing; the parking lot is not. Our lease expires in 2005 with two more options to renew. Shall we move? In the meantime, what is the best use of space? It is time to go beyond the questions to a plan. But before the plan comes the vision. And the vision for a Coop comes from the membership. So members, we are knocking at your doors again about the vision thing. The Board is struggling with how to design a process where the membership, at large, can meaningfully contribute to defining the vision. The survey we distributed to working members at the dinner was a first testing of the waters. If you were not able to attend the dinner and/or did not fill out the survey, please fill one out and leave it at the service desk. There will be other avenues for input, participation, communicating, sharing. The Strategic Planning Process committee is looking into facilitated focus groups of all members, working and non-working, to examine our current mission statement and bylaws objectives. Others, for reasons of "practicality," see a process guided more by the staff in creating the opportunities and forms for membership input in more narrowly focused, and channeled, ways. This is an evolving process. Out of the process, we envision a stronger community and a set of strategic goals for the next three to five years that all can agree to, so that priorities can be set for the current space and we can explore alternatives. The more ways that members come forward in this process, the better the product will be-and the healthier our sense of cooperative community, I might add. All the Board committees could use an infusion of member labor. Besides the Strategic Planning Process committee mentioned above, the Finance committee is keeping in touch with the Central Avenue Business Improvement District and tracking changes in the co-op field. The Personnel committee is revising the employee manual, and looking at the staff structure and wage scale to help retain a committed and experienced staff. The Membership committee is focusing on strengthening the Member Work program and membership participation in Coop meetings. Communications oversees the Coop Scoop and store bulletin boards, and is looking for ways to use the store computers, e-mail and the website to expand communication. Special Events is looking for ways to connect members in fun events, reach out to the community, and connect us all to our suppliers and other groups in the district concerned with good food and a healthy environment. Nutrition and Education is keeping tabs on legislation affecting organics, GMOs (genetically modified organisms) and irradiation, and is researching nutritional and informational topics for the Coop Scoop . There's an opportunity to serve for every need and every interest. For more information, call one of your Board members or committee liaisons listed in the sidebar on the second page. Committees are open to all and work credit is given for all shareholders. |
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