The council is preparing to welcome Hunger Mountain Co-op’s next General Manager (GM). Please look for a special announcement next week. Finding and hiring a GM who can meet the Co-op’s current needs is the first part of the council’s most important task this year. Soon, we will begin the second part of that task: supporting them so they can succeed with the sort of leadership that the members and staff are looking for.  

What sort of leadership are members and staff looking for? Through surveys in February, we learned that these five qualities were at the top of the lists for both members and staff:  

• Communicates respectfully and clearly with staff and management 
• Effectively motivates and develops employees, particularly at management level
• Listens attentively and is courteous
• Values teamwork 
• Works well with and is responsive and accountable to a variety of stakeholders: board, employees, customers, and public

The council conducted a nationwide search for the top talent for the Co-op world. We hired Gallagher, Flynn & Co. to help us find candidates and review how well they matched the Co-op’s needs. A five-person search committee, with representation from Member-Owners, management, union staff, and the council, worked with Gallagher, Flynn to find the best candidates out of the 30 who applied. The committee sent three names to the council. We brought three finalists to meet with staff, senior management, members, and ourselves, over the course of one marathon day per finalist. We asked for and received feedback on the finalists from the people who attended those meetings.  

This was the most open and transparent process for GM hiring, with input from the widest array of stakeholders, that I’m aware of for any sibling Co-op in the region. (At a national co-op gathering earlier this month, we met someone from a Pittsburgh co-op that did something similar in 2018, but that’s the only parallel I’m aware of.) I’m grateful to all the people who contributed their time, ideas, and analyses to helping us find a GM who can meet our needs now and, I hope, for years into the future. 

I’d also like to thank Interim General Manager Mary Mullally and the entire senior management team for adjusting to keep the Co-op fulfilling its mission during a time of transition, since last August. It speaks both to the thoroughness of the Co-op’s preparations for eventualities—Mary had been training for five years to be able to lead the Co-op temporarily, in case the GM was no longer available—and to the team’s adaptability and dedication in the face of multiple turnovers in top management.  

Finally, I’d like to thank all our staff for continuing to serve our members and other customers through this time of transition, through turbulence that has included the aftermath of a flood, a fire next door, difficult but productive conversations about sexual harassment, and new training for management and staff. Every day, they make the Co-op work. 

How Many Cooperators Does It Take to Change a Lightbulb? 

On a different note: Last time, I asked how many cooperators it takes to change a lightbulb. I didn’t have a good punchline, so I asked for suggestions. 

One member wrote to say that they’d heard this one before, and the answer was: “We don’t know, they are still meeting to discuss it.” Audrey Famette’s reply implies that the light bulb did get changed, but it’s not entirely clear: “Well, 6 actually. 2 must argue where the bulbs are stored…’No, that’s where they USED to be.’ 2 to decide which ladder to use….and finally 2 to argue WHO is going to screw it in…’Um, you’re kinda old, let me do it.’, ‘Whaddya mean I’m old? I could run rings around kids your age!’

Know any other jokes about cooperators? Please email them to me! Maybe I’ll report them in the next eNews!

—Carl Etnier, Council President