Board President’s Remarks at the 2024 Annual Shareholder Meeting

These were the remarks made by Board President Jerelyn Wilson to Shareholders at the 2024 Annual Shareholder Meeting.

In addition to enjoying good food and engaging company, the purpose of this meeting is for the Board to report to you as shareholders on the last fiscal year. As you may have read or I hope you will read in the BFC Annual Report, the Board spent half of the last fiscal year – July 2023 through this past June – in a second search process for a new General Manager. The search process takes what is typically a monthly cadence for Board members – typically a three-hour Board meeting on the first Monday of the month – to a weekly cadence of meetings. In my report I’ve shared with you details of that search and how it was different than the previous one we had completed 15 months prior.

The search included 261 direct applicants and more than 30 phone interviews. The Board led in-person interviews and store tours with three finalists. After much consideration, in January the Board hired Anthony Santorelli. As a member of the then current Core Team and our Chief Financial Officer, we felt strongly that Anthony would lead the Co-op forward, carrying on the strong trajectory he has helped to set. 

So, the second half of the last fiscal year the Board has been building a productive, trusting and open relationship with Anthony. And now we are back to a monthly cadence of meetings! 

Now I’d like to share with you four things I’ve observed, experienced and learned over the course of my nine years on the Board.

1. The amazing amount of effort on the part of about 160 employees it takes to provide the opportunity for me to shop at the Co-op.

Let’s remember, the Co-op is open 83 hours a week.

No single employee is there 83 hours a week; that means that on every level, to operate smoothly, the Co-op is a team effort. No matter at whether in an upstairs office, accounting or graphics, or downstairs, stocking shelves or serving customers in the deli – whether it is jobs in the front of store: as a cashier or managing the produce department, or behind the scenes in the coolers or the kitchen preparing food for the deli……we are talking about cultivating a kind of team work at every level.

One of the benefits of the search process for me was getting a much deeper understanding of what it takes to operate the store so all of us can have a satisfying shopping experience. 

2. How valuable the structures are that give our Co-op stability and hold us all accountable to each other.  

• These include the Union Contract,negotiated every 3 years for the 140 or so hourly employees
  
• Written policies and protocols in the new employee handbook for all employees including managers
  
• Bylaws and Policies for the Board. Bylaws are the agreement between you, the Shareholders and the 9-person Board on the expectations of how we will govern the Co-op. Policies underlie the dynamic relationship between the Board of Directors and the General Manager and are changed as needed.
  
• These structures give this enterprise a lot of stability as the individuals change. New employees get hired, new Board members get elected. These structures are the foundation upon which we evolve as an organization. 

3. The incredible contribution that the Co-op makes to our local community. 

• The Commitment to Community program, which allows shareholders to earn a 5% discount at the register by volunteering at local non-profits
  
• The school programs led by our wonderful Education, Demos, and Events Coordinator, Lisa Nichols
  
• Our Safety and Outreach Team, led by Caz Clark, interfaces with our community in a way that was described in detail in a recent front-page article in The Commons
  
• Round Up for Change gives customers the opportunity to donate to a variety of groups, among them Foodworks – these are significant contributions
  
• Also, the Co-op contributes to our community by keeping our dollars local, not being part of an out-of-town corporate behemoth – and that leads me to the fourth and last…

4. The inspiring benefits of the cooperative business model even amid the dominant capitalistic culture

• The idea being that we are governed by the very ones we serve.

And along these lines I’d like to read our Co-op’s ENDs policies which highlight our reasons for being:

The Brattleboro Food Co-op, an organization modeled on cooperative values and principles, exists to serve its shareholders’ collective needs for:

• An open, inclusive and welcoming marketplace
  
• Access to and education about goods and nutritious food that are ecologically sound and responsibly sourced
  
• An organization that contributes to a just and resilient local economy
  
• An enterprise that engages in sustainable and regenerative environmental practices

And in more general terms and simply put, here is what I found in a Google search for the cooperative business model: 

“The primary purpose of a cooperative is to serve the community in which it operates. Since co-ops are not-for-profit enterprises, a majority of the profit goes towards fulfilling the social, economic and cultural needs of the community. When a co-op does well, it benefits the community as a whole. In addition to providing goods and services, co-ops also serve as a beacon of good business. When a community invests, participates and supports a cooperative business, the rest of the community becomes stronger and equitably wealthier. Co-ops also often provide education and instruction for their members, employees and representatives so they can successfully contribute to the co-op and encourage them to spread information about co-ops beyond their communities.”

My thinking has shifted from “what do I get” for my $80 life-time membership to “what am I supporting” with my $80 membership. It also challenges me to think about what percentage of my grocery dollars am I spending at the Co-op?

In closing I’d like to say that I have been very proud to say that I serve on the Board of the Brattleboro Food Co-op, and have been especially honored to serve as its President for the last four years. As I step down, I hope you will consider taking a turn to step up. As a downtown anchor, the Brattleboro Food Co-op is one of the enterprises that makes the Brattleboro region the kind of place in which we all want to live! Thank you!