Four of the seven Board seats are open this year. If you are interested in being on the Board, please come to one of the required candidate information sessions, pick up a packet, and ask your questions. Information sessions will be held Saturday, December 5, 11 – 12 and Thursday, January 7, 6 – 7 p.m., both at the Co-op mezzanine, which is upstairs, outside Kenna’s office. Completed candidate statements are due on Sunday, January 10, 2010. Email me at This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it   if you have any questions.

With the election in mind, here is a little background about the Co-op and the Board, as well as thoughts on what it takes to be a good director.

Who are we? We are a democratically-controlled consumer co-op of 5000-plus members, doing $7.5-plus million in sales annually. We are one of the most high-profile local businesses in the area. Since we are democratically-controlled, we have a Board of Directors, made up of seven members. The Board is elected by membership as a whole. Sadly, only a very small percentage of members have historically voted in the Board election.

What does the Board do? The Board is responsible for ensuring the Co-op’s well-being, for setting policy, and making strategic decisions. It represents the interests of membership. The Board is also the General Manager’s (GM) boss and thus is responsible for evaluating the GM’s performance.

Along with monitoring the Co-op’s financial well-being and evaluating whether the GM is in compliance with various policies, there are a lot of creative, cool things the Board does and can do. It makes long-lasting decisions that impact the future of the Co-op, like deciding to move and expand to the current downtown location (and deciding whether and how to take on debt to do so). The Board determines whether to implement a patronage refund program and whether to have a volunteer/participating member program. The Board also forms committees to promote the ends it finds important to the Co-op. To this end, it formed the Green Commerce Committee to advocate an ethical, local sustainable goods economy and the Outreach and Engagement Committee to engage members in various aspects of the Co-op while providing support to non-profit community organizations through programs like A Dime in Time.

What makes for a good director? I posed this question to a few people, including the president of the Co-op Board, Co-op managers, staff, members, a former director, and a director from another prominent board in town. Here is what they said:

QUALITIES --Someone who is . . .
*Honest and benevolent
*An independent thinker—no one wants a “yes” board
*A high-volume Co-op shopper
*Intrinsically motivated to help the Co-op uphold the highest ethics and practices
*From a group currently not represented on the Board
*Enthusiastic and has a total belief in the Co-op’s mission--this is much more important than having a particular skill-set or area of expertise
*A good moderator
*A forward thinker who spends 90 percent of the time thinking in the future, on where the organization is heading, and not so much where it’s been
*Independent from the Co-op
*Community-minded, who places a high value on sustainability, health, nutrition, and local producers**Committed, involved and accountable, in good times and bad.

ABILITIES--Willingness to . . .
*Be a team player/work well with groups/ promote a “we” culture even when we do not all think alike or have the same beliefs (this one came up time and again in various iterations)
*Establish common goals and objectives and respect decisions made by the board even when you disagree
*Stay focused, proactive in a discussion, and not digress down different tracks that take away from the issue at hand or degenerate into stating the problem over and over without looking for solutions
*Listen to different perspectives, evaluate them, then step back and brainstorm solutions that take in the “bigger picture” of the Co-op, community, and the environment we live in
*Represent all members rather than catering to a small, select group
*Commit the time and energy necessary to be on the Board
*Not monopolize meetings by taking up air space.

SKILL SET/BACKGROUND in . . .
*Finance or Accounting
* Hospitality management/customer service
*Financial planning, with a good grasp of how to keep a business healthy
*Marketing/Public Relations
*Fundraising
*Policymaking
*City or urban planning
*Research
*Events planning (wedding planner)
*Managing/owning a business
*Real estate
*Audience-centric organizations (ministers, music directors, or theater arts persons).

KNOWLEDGE/EXPERTISE in . . .
Environmental and agricultural issues
*Co-ops, whether they be grocery co-ops, credit-unions or others
*Seven principles of cooperation and how they apply to determining policies and the direction of our Co-op
*How a board operates--setting policy/giving management guidance to do their job and not making operational decisions.

What would I add to the list? Someone who thinks outside the box . . . an optimist . . . a dreamer (who follows through on those dreams, of course)! What do YOU think?

Read the candidate statements, to be published in the February Newsletter, and come to the Candidate Forum on Thursday, March 25, 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. at the Co-op Café. See for yourself who best embodies the qualities you want in your Board.

Note: February 28, 2010 is the deadline to become a Co-op member if you wish to vote in the 2010 Co-op Board of Directors election.