October Board Reflection
Dear Open Harvest Owners and Patrons,
What an awesome thing Open Harvest has going!
This is my first reflection since I’ve been on the board, so I’d like to express a few points.
First, we are in the black. It’s not been easy for co-ops to weather the current storm of chain grocery stores entering new markets, but we have done that, and the board has consistently voiced faith in our current General Manager. Amy has worked tirelessly to keep the co-op afloat since we’ve had increased local and online competition over the last five or so years; not only that but we are now starting to see financial gains.
Second, not only is Amy working hard, so is the board. I am repeatedly impressed by how passionate our board members are. Please come witness one of our sessions so you can see firsthand the amount of planning and critical thinking we put into the co-op as a team.
This past meeting, we even reviewed a self-assessment survey we took part in; we approach the board’s role and work it does seriously and have many tools for making sure we are on the right course.
In our monthly meeting reflections, we also want the Owners to know that we are all a part of a unique model and to keep in mind that when you shop at Open Harvest you are voting for your community, other Owners, and the concept of co-ops in general.
Don’t forget to vote in the 2019 Board Election and attend the Annual Owner meeting on Friday, November 1st at 6:00 pm at Chez SoDo (more details on our website). We are also in the early stages of planning another FinMoo (Financial Meeting of Member Owners) to take place early next year. We did our first one last January and it was well attended, and we had some great discussion as well as some great info about how the co-op is running finance-wise.
In cooperation,
Aaron Druery
Open Harvest Board of Directors