Everyone is welcome to shop at the co-op, and everyone deserves access to organic, healthy, and affordable food.
To help make this statement a reality, we’ve developed a pilot program for Owners who use SNAP/EBT. Our Community Access Discount is modeled on longstanding successful programs at other co-ops.
Any Owner with SNAP benefits automatically qualifies. The 10% discount will apply to everything in the store, including sale items and Co+op Basics, wellness products, general merchandise, deli foods, and hot soups.
Want to participate? Applications will be available at the registers starting Friday, April 22. Fill one out to give us your contact info and a signature. Once we’ve processed the application (within 3-5 days), we’ll automatically apply the 10% discount to your purchases at the register. You’re eligible for as long as you receive SNAP, but we will ask you to re-enroll after six months.
Not an Owner? Your cashier can help you sign up with a starting investment of as little as $5. You’ll be eligible right away.
We’re grateful to the Organically Grown Company for funding our pilot with a $5000 grant. We’ll be seeking other funding grants to continue and expand the discount, so if you know of a likely source, please email Hilary Shook, chair of our board’s Outreach Committee.
2022 Annual Owners’ Meeting
4 p.m. Saturday, April 23, via Zoom
It’s almost time for our Annual Owners’ Meeting! Please take a few moments and register to attend.
Our agenda will include the results of our Board of Directors election and reports on the state of the co-op from our board and general manager. As always, there will be prizes! (You do have to be present at the meeting to win.)
Our special guest this year is Samantha Kirstein, Fairbanks Community Food Bank Community Development Director.
We’ll be meeting via Zoom, so we’ve created a set of Virtual Meeting Guidelines with important rules and instructions. Please read them before attending our meeting.
Note: Registration is required. Please RSVP here. When you register, you will receive the Zoom login information by email as soon as we’ve confirmed that you are an Owner.
Our meeting will start at 4 p.m., but you can enter the waiting room at 3:30 p.m. Please come in at least 15 minutes early to ensure you don’t have any technical problems.
You will be asked to vote by poll to approve the meeting agenda and last year’s minutes during the business meeting.
We look forward to seeing you!
P.S. If you are one of the first 50 Owners to register, we’ll enter you in a drawing for a $100 gift certificate! To win, you must be present when your name is called.
COVID-19 Update: Mask Policy
Starting tomorrow, March 10th, face coverings will be requested but not required while shopping at the co-op. Employees will continue to wear masks during their shifts.
This change in our policy reflects the most recent guidance from the CDC. Owners and shoppers should be aware that we will require masks in the future based upon updated guidance from the CDC or our state and local health authorities, or if there is a sudden surge in cases in our community.
We encourage anyone who wishes to wear a mask to continue to do so, and we will continue to have masks available at customer service.
Thank you to everyone who has treated our staff kindly and sacrificed comfort for the sake of community.
PSA: Positive COVID-19 Case
To Our Owners & Community,
In the interest of transparency, we want to inform you that we have learned that one of our front-end staff members has tested positive for COVID-19. They were exposed to the virus outside work.
The employee last worked at the co-op on Wednesday, January 5th, and wore a face mask at all times while working.
We have informed our other employees and encouraged them to seek testing. Our co-op has a generous sick leave and vacation policy, and we will work with staff members on a case-by-case basis to ensure that they have the support they need. As part of our standard policy, we ask that any employee exhibiting any symptoms of respiratory illness or fever stay home, contact their supervisor, and notify their physician.
Throughout the pandemic, we have followed recommendations from state, local, and national health authorities. We pride ourselves on our cleanliness and food safety standards, and we are taking multiple steps to serve you, care for our staff, and be a responsible member of our community. For example, we sanitize and disinfect high-touch areas (e.g., freezer door handles, bathrooms, bulk food bins, shopping carts, check stands) frequently throughout the day.
Furthermore:
• We screen all employees for temperature and symptoms before each shift.
• All staff self-monitor and stay or go home if sick.
• We require all employees and shoppers to wear cloth face coverings at all times while in the store. The only exception is for employees who are eating in our break room, and we only allow two people in the break room at any given time.
• We ask all employees to practice social distancing in the store and in other public spaces.
• We maintain Plexiglas barriers at all registers to limit contact between cashiers and the public, and contactless payment is available.
If you have any questions about our COVID-19 policies, please contact Dennis Hansen, Interim General Manager.
Please welcome Amber Quesenberry, our co-op’s new general manager.
We are pleased to welcome Amber Quesenberry as the next general manager for Co-op Market Grocery & Deli. Her first day at the co-op will be January 17th.
Amber comes to us with extensive experience in customer service and in leading, inspiring, and managing teams. Since 2015, she has held senior management positions at Princess Riverside Lodge and Westmark Hotel & Conference Center in Fairbanks. Before moving to Alaska, she spent several years as receiving manager and then visual merchandising manager for Macy’s in Delaware and Maryland.
Amber has expressed a deep commitment to serving our community and promoting equality through the co-op. She said she’s eager to move from a corporate environment to a more values-driven organization. “I’m very excited about the opportunity to develop relationships with our Owners and shoppers,” she said, “and I’m especially looking forward to working alongside the co-op’s dedicated managers and staff as we strengthen the store for the future.”
The co-op board of directors unanimously selected Amber following a two-month competitive search that identified several highly qualified local candidates. Store managers were included in the final interview process.
The board was impressed by Amber’s commitment to staff and her solid track record of developing strong management teams. We appreciated her obvious dedication to customer service, and we were inspired by her commitment to the cooperative values and principles.
To ensure continuity, Amber will work closely with Columinate consultant Dennis Hanley, who has served the co-op as interim GM since October. Under Dennis’ leadership, the co-op has developed plans to improve store operations and finances. He will transition to the role of mentor and monitor to help the board and GM succeed in implementing those plans.
Amber is eager to meet our Owners and shoppers, so please keep an eye out for her when you’re in the store. Introduce yourself and let her know what the co-op means to you.
As always, if you have any questions, please reach out to us at board@coopmarket.org.
In cooperation,
Co-op Market Grocery & Deli Board of Directors
Art Gelvin, Brian Kassof, Patrice Lee, Anduin McElroy, Rich Seifert, Hilary Shook
Owners: Help select our 2022 Lend a Hand recipients.
It’s time for our Owners to choose which local nonprofits will receive our Lend a Hand register round-ups in 2022.
There are 26 nonprofits to consider this year, and eight of those have never received Lend a Hand donations. We invite our Owners to select 11 organization for our monthly register round-ups. (We reserve December for a giving tree and round-ups for the Interior Alaska Center for Non-Violent Living.)
Please review the applications linked below before completing the Lend a Hand selection survey. By request, we have arranged the list into two groups: nonprofits that received Lend a Hand donations in the past and those that have not. You can also see the years an organization has benefitted in parentheses. To view prior years’ donation amounts, click here.
CLICK HERE TO VOTE. As always, each Owner account is allowed only one vote, so please discuss your choices with others in your household before voting.
Our survey will remain open through December 24th. Please contact Kristin Summerlin, Marketing & Owner Services Manager, if you have any questions.
The following applicants have never received Lend a Hand funds:
- ABC Parent Cooperative Preschool
- Fairbanks Arts Association
- Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival
- Friends of Fox Spring
- Kids Voting North Alaska
- KUAC Friends Group
- Resource Center for Parents & Children
- United Way of Tanana Valley
These applicants received Lend a Hand round-ups in prior years (noted in parentheses):
- Alaska Songbird Institute (2014)
- Big Brothers Big Sisters of Alaska (2020)
- Bread Line Inc./Stone Soup/Stone’s Throw (2013-2021)
- Breast Cancer Detection Center (2014, 2016)
- Calypso Farm & Ecology Center (2014, 2017, 2020)
- Fairbanks Animal Shelter Fund (2017-2021)
- Fairbanks Community Food Bank (2013-2014, 2018-2021)
- Fairbanks Resource Agency (2019, 2021)
- Fairbanks Youth Advocates/The Door (2013, 2015-2018)
- Friends of Creamer’s Field (2015-2021)
- Georgeson Botanical Garden Friends (2016-2019)
- Green Star of Interior Alaska (2016-2021)
- Guys Read Gals Read (2021)
- Literacy Council of Alaska (2015-2017, 2019-2021)
- NAMI Fairbanks (2020-2021)
- North Star Imagination Library (2016)
- Northern Alaska Environmental Center (2015, 2017, 2019)
- The Folk School Fairbanks (2018-2020)
IACNVL Giving Tree
Our Giving Tree for the Interior Alaska Center for Non-Violent Living is up! As in years past, we’re collecting necessities (soap, shampoo, diapers, etc.) needed at the shelter year round.
Because there’s no need to gift wrap items, our Giving Tree functions a little differently. Stop by and pick up a paper ornament for your own tree – it’s yours to keep. Drop your donated items into one of the collection boxes or baskets. And don’t forget to round up at the register to Lend a Hand to IACNVL whenever you shop this month.
Click here for a list of requested items.
An Update on Supply Chain Issues
Wondering why you’re not finding some of your favorite products on our shelves?
COVID-19 continues to impact our food supply. Demand for many products is again exceeding supply, reducing our ability to keep our shelves fully stocked.
Early in the pandemic, panic buying caused many of the out-of-stock situations that grocers experienced. Although the food industry was able to rebound somewhat, the problem has resurfaced due to the sustained nature of the pandemic combined with the slow pace of vaccination globally and the recent Delta variant surge. Many raw materials remain scarce, and labor shortages persist for national manufacturers, distributors, and transportation companies alike.
Frozen foods, baking products, snacks, supplements, beverages, paper products, household cleaners, and pet foods have been particularly affected, but our co-op has experienced out-of-stocks in many categories.
While the food industry is taking many steps to mitigate the problem, recovery estimates continue to be pushed out and out-of-stocks on some products from national suppliers are likely through the end of the year.
We’ve adopted many strategies to keep our shelves stocked. When we can’t get old favorites, we look for different brands. Sometimes we must offer fewer flavors or sizes on some things. Please know that we continue to order, and whenever we’re unable to stock an item, we do our best to find substitutes. We encourage you to try something new, and when in doubt or if you need assistance, please ask!
Our food system is strong, and these challenges will be resolved in time. Thank you for your support and patience as we continue to navigate the effects of the pandemic. We’re all in this together!
2021 Annual Meeting Recording Now Available
A record-breaking 152 Owners registered to attend our 2021 Virtual Annual Meeting meeting on October 23rd, and 76 people actually tuned in.
Owners heard updates on the state of the co-op and the GM search from members of the board of directors and from our new interim general manager, Dennis Hanley.
If you weren’t able to attend, click here to listen to a recording of the meeting.
Letter from the Board: Gratitude in a Time of Transition
Dear Co-op Market Owners,
Times of change are opportunities to rethink, reimagine, and resolve. Early in the pandemic, the Board of Directors received this advice from our consultant: “Never waste a transition.” And, as you may have noticed, transition has been a thing. We took this advice to heart and have worked hard to rethink our systems and processes. Some of them have been behind the scenes, like restructuring the budget process and updating our governance policies, and others have been more visible, like moving the annual meeting to the spring. While managing these transitions, the board has done our best to respond to the needs of the co-op team, owners and customers.
We recognize that some of these processes need extra attention. This fall our industry consultants, Columinate, offered us an opportunity to hire a dedicated interim general manager (IGM) who could bring the grocery retail expertise necessary to make our co-op thrive. We expect the next few months will bring a business turnaround with Dennis Hanley leading as an experienced IGM. He will then assist in training our new general manager once they are hired.
We acknowledge those who have carried us through these tumultuous times. We are thankful for Shaun Sims for serving as interim general manager in 2020 and Rich Rosenberg for his work as general manager in 2021. They kept our store open and safe, while continuing to make strides in store operations and service to our customers. We’re especially grateful to our team of essential workers, who came to the store with their sleeves rolled up, ready to get the work done.
We are thankful to Madeline Patterson-O’Dell, dedicated board member, who has completed her term. The board will miss her passion for nutrition, healthful food sourcing, and the co-op mission. We are thankful to NCG and Columinate who have supported the store and the board before and throughout the transitions of the past two years.
Finally, we thank you for continuing to support the co-op. We are more than a grocery store: We are a community. When you support the co-op with your time, dollars, and even “likes” on social media, you are investing in the type of community you want to live in.
The board is motivated to work for our values-driven co-op, and we remain committed to our purpose: “We serve our community and planet with a cooperative grocery business focused on healthful options.” Our co-op makes our community a better place, and we will keep doing the hard work so that it can continue to do so far into the future.
In cooperation,
Art Gelvin, Brian Kassof, Patrice Lee, Anduin McElroy, Madeline Patterson-O’Dell, Rich Seifert, Hilary Shook
2020-2021 Co-op Market Board of Directors
