Spotlight on Shareholder Services

Here at the Brattleboro Food Co-op, we aim to be a community hub with as low a barrier to entry as possible. One of my favorite parts of my job is helping shareholders and community members get access to our Community Room. There are very few free and easily reserved spaces for meetings, birthday parties, small speaking events, language learning classes, and other events. However, for shareholders and nonprofit groups, the space is entirely free to use. The sky (23 people) is the limit (max occupancy per fire code). 

I also maintain our Community Board, which lives in the vestibule between the exit doors. I love getting to see all of the community events, concerts, art events, and flyers from local businesses. There’s a lot of cool stuff on there! Once a week, I review the board and give it a refresh to ensure flyers receive equal view time and to remove anything outdated. I hope the Community Board is a resource for anyone looking for something fun to do, opportunities to get involved in the community, local businesses, and occasionally housing opportunities. 

I also assist the front end (cashiers) as needed. Sometimes this involves filling in when there are call-outs. At other times, it involves answering specific questions about events, the Community Room, tabling, volunteering, and updating shareholder contact information. If you have any of these questions (or a question you don’t know who to ask), feel free to email me at [email protected] or call me at 802-246-2821. 

On that note, I’m the person to ask about discounts! We are grateful to be able to offer a 10% Food For All (FFA) discount to those receiving any kind of government assistance, such as EBT, WIC, SNAP, 3Squares, Supplemental Security Income, or a “proof of need” referral letter from a qualifying organization (such as a food pantry). To get an FFA discount in place, all we need is to see documentation of need either in person at the Customer Service Desk or via email. Please note that we do not keep copies of customers’ documentation; we only need to see it before making changes to your member profile. We also offer a 5% “Working Discount” to anyone who volunteers in-store or with our Commitment to Community Partners. Shareholders who volunteer two hours per month receive a 5% discount, which can stack with the FFA discount for a total of 15% off. 

A big reason we can do the cool stuff we do is that the Co-op is owned by people who share their ideas with us. As a business owned by its users, it’s crucial for us to take feedback seriously. Twice a week, I gather feedback forms from three locations in the store: the Customer Service desk, the Café, and next to the Seafood counter. Comments and suggestions are all put into a spreadsheet and passed on to the managers to address. I encourage you to use this tool! Each shareholder is an equal co-owner of this business and deserves to have their questions, concerns, praise, and complaints recorded and addressed. 

I enjoy being the person who explains what we do here. At the recommendation of my manager, Ruth, I’ve read several books and articles on the subject of co-ops, both past and present. The thing I like most about the cooperative business model is the shared authority and the incorporation of democratic processes into decision-making. As a result, I also enjoy enrolling new shareholders. Lately, I’ve been helping to enroll a lot of employee shareholders, which has led to cool conversations. I work with a lot of great people, both in my department and throughout the store, and it’s been fun to meet people I don’t typically cross paths with.

I’m grateful to work with such a creative team. Planning and executing events with the Marketing department is a lot of fun. During the events, it’s so fun to meet you all. I had the opportunity to run the Commitment to Community (C2C) fair in June and had valuable conversations with several of our C2C partners. I highly encourage you all to talk to them if you get a chance.

As a parting note, I’d like to encourage you to get involved with the Co-op in whatever ways make sense for you. We host a wide variety of events and make a point to be connected to organizations in the area that are committed to serving our community. We are so grateful for and to you all.

Many thanks,

Orion
Shareholder Services and Marketing Administrator