Co-op Connects on Saturday, July 19, 11 am to noon with the General Manager (GM) and one or two Council Members  

Join General Manager Mary Mullally and me (and perhaps another council member) for Co-op Connects on Saturday, July 19, from 11 am to noon! We’ll have a table at the Co-op’s summer party. We’d love to chat with you about the past, present, or future of the Co-op—or anything else on your mind! (Cat antics featured prominently in the conversation last time.) Look for signs on where to find us. 

Member-Owned, Member-Driven: The Night We Started Our Quest for a Vision  

(Continued from above) 

Climate change was not only an important theme in the discussions, it probably influenced where and when they were held. We originally scheduled the event for June 23, in a brick building without air conditioning. When that day was forecast to have a heat index of 98 F at 6 pm, we postponed the event to July 7. And when July 7 proved to be almost as hot, we relocated to the air-conditioned Noble Hall on the campus of the Greenway Institute in Montpelier. Around 50 people showed up to dine and deliberate; it became a venue humming with ideas—and, thankfully, air conditioning. 

We’re renewing our vision for the first time since a community-engagement process in 2011–2012 produced a 10-year vision and strategic plan. It imagined a co-op with multiple stores and a food delivery service, serving shoppers of all ages and income levels and helping them become “increasingly educated about health, nutrition, sustainability, and the cooperative business model.” 

Today, our community, our world, and our co-op are all quite different, so we’re taking stock of what’s appropriate and important now. (We do expect to find lots of continuity with the 2012 vision, however.) The Dinner and Discussion was just the start of a public engagement process that will span the coming months.  

What ideas came out at this first session? If you want to see for yourself, Orca Media filmed the large group discussions; the video is here and includes reports from the individual tables where small groups had done the core thinking of the evening. 

Here are some of the vision goals that emerged, along with specific ideas for achieving them: 

Community & Inclusion 

• Expand membership to include underrepresented community members. 
• Serve everyone’s needs by offering low-cost products (including conventional ones). 
• Reach out to disenfranchised populations (post-incarceration, poverty) and support farmers through programs. 

Strengthen Local Food Systems 

• Co-op helps coordinate with farmers to distribute food and reduce waste (e.g., seconds sales, connecting with unsold crops). 
• Engage with Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund’s “Vermont Food Security: Roadmap to 2035”  

Climate Resilience and Emergency Preparedness 

• Become a conduit to get food to where it is most needed in emergencies. 
• Draft disaster preparedness plans and invest in flood mitigation. 

Store Expansion and Enhanced Customer Experience 

• Purchase rk Miles property adjacent to the Co-op to enable expansion. 
• Reorganize deli layout and add comfortable seating/tables for better flow. 
• Explore adding amenities like daycare, wine club, or greenhouse sections. 

These are just some of the ideas from the evening—and the evening’s collection is just the beginning of gathering input. If you missed the Dinner and Discussion and want to contribute, stay tuned for more events later this year to gather more ideas and refine these.

—Carl Etnier, Council President