November Board Reflections
By Rosina Paolini, Board Member
Our Annual Open Harvest Meeting was a celebration of the Open Harvest community’s achievements. We are in the “black”, meaning another profitable year, with expanded seated and a revitalized deli. We will have $4 meals coming soon with a space to have community conversation. Come for lunch!
John Steinman was our featured speaker. He discussed his new book, “Grocery Story”, with his focus on all of us being ambassadors of community. The Author discussed the role grocery stores and food cooperative play and their impact on human health, food systems, economy, and the planet.
We welcome our new board members: Margaret Milligan, Wally Graeber, and Megan Jackson returning for another term. Thanks to you all! With the initiation of on-line voting the turn out improved by 10%! A total of 14.3% of you, the owners, voted this year.
Our board is looking to the future with new board members, improved orientation, and more efficient meetings. We have a buddy system, where we mentor each other through our policy handbook and board meetings and learning from each other.
Each month we start our board meeting with an opening question. This month we pondered: ”How do we celebrate our achievements?”
We discussed the many ways we can come together with our community, our owners: volunteering together at a non-profit event, activities in the store like, Trivia Night, and outdoor activities that immerse us in nature. Aaron wants to go winter camping – Do you want to join him? How does celebrating our achievements impact our store? How does it impact our local economy?
Financially, we had a rough quarter with fewer shoppers shopping at Open Harvest. The management & staff are analyzing customer trends, with a customer survey coming out soon. How often do you shop? What changes can we make to ensure that our store thrives? Do we have the items you may be purchasing elsewhere? These may be questions to ask yourself and our community. Jump into action, engage our community and we will increase visits to Open Harvest.
The board is planning another Financial Meeting of Member Owners in 2020! The FINMOO was so well attended last year we will be having another in February. We plan to look at market surveys and discuss how our finances support future plans.
Finally, Holiday orders will be accepted through November 21st. Order your holiday turkey and other items now — You can even order them ON-LINE!