September 3, 2021
Dear Co-op Market Owner,
Your co-op’s board and management team have taken the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity to reevaluate how we work together and how we serve you, our Owners. One of the most visible and meaningful components of our work as a cooperative is our annual Owner’s meeting.
For the past several years, we’ve met in October to hear reports on operations and finances, review issues that vitally affect Co-op Market, transact business such as bylaws changes and election of board members, and, perhaps most importantly, gather as a community.
Upon review, we recognized that holding the annual meeting in October puts undue strain on staff and management during the holiday season ordering crunch, which is already a hectic time for a grocery store. To alleviate this strain, the board has decided to move our annual meeting to mid-April. This year, we will still hold an abbreviated virtual meeting in October to present operational and financial updates, but we will move our larger meeting and board election to the Spring.
Please join us!
Our virtual meeting will take place at 4 p.m. Saturday, October 23rd. Look for an invitation with a Zoom link closer to that date. We plan to resume our traditional in-person community gathering, board election, and annual meeting on Saturday, April 17th, 2022. We’ll communicate details for April as soon as we know them.
Please help us guide the co-op!
Even though we’re delaying our election until Spring, you can still get involved with the board now, as we have an opening for a board member to be appointed in October. The appointee will serve until the April election.
We accept board candidate applications on a rolling basis. If you are available to be considered for appointment in October, please submit your application now. Three seats will be open for our April election, and we’ll start accepting applications for these in January.
As a food co-op, we depend upon our Owners to provide leadership by volunteering for board service. Our board members help by crafting long-range strategies for fulfilling our mission while upholding our values and monitoring our progress to ensure we’re moving forward in the right direction.
If you wonder whether board leadership is right for you, please attend one of our regular board meetings on the third Monday of the month.
You can access both the webinar and regular monthly meetings at this Zoom link.
Meeting ID: 838 0329 6836
Passcode: 303122
For more information and a copy of the board candidate application, please go to the governance page of our website.
We look forward to meeting the next generation of committed, engaged co-op board leaders. When you invest your dollars, energy, and time in our co-op, you are voting for the kind of community you want to live in.
In cooperation,
Co-op Market Board of Directors
Art Gelvin, Brian Kassof, Patrice Lee, Anduin McElroy, Madeline Patterson-O’Dell, Hilary Shook, Rich Seifert
Call for Candidates: We Need Your Voice on Our Board of Directors
Calling all Co-op Market Owners! We need your voice on our board of directors.
Cooperative Principle #2 is Democratic Member Control, and our co-op is governed by a seven-person board of directors. Board members are Owners and are elected by their fellow Owners. This year, we have three seats with three-year terms up for election.
Serving on the board is a great way to be more involved with your community, and you’ll be helping shape the future of your co-op.
Candidate applications are due August 31st. Candidate packets, including an application form, are available here, or pick one up at Customer Service.
2019 Annual Meeting Report
Approximately 60 Co-op Market Owners came together for good food, fun, information and inspiration at our 11th Annual Owners’ Meeting on October 19th. Lots of them won prizes, too, including turkeys, $25 gift certificates, chocolate, a basket of Fair Trade goods, and more.
The meeting agenda and financial statements are available here.
Agriculture Report
We learned about the current state of farming in Alaska from Scott Mugrage, president of the Alaska Farm Bureau. He said the number of farms in Alaska is up by 36% at a time when farming is down by 3% nationwide, and Alaska farm revenue is up by 100%. We also lead the nation in female- and veteran-owned farms. Mugrage said that although we currently grow less than 5% of the food Alaska needs, we have millions of acres of potentially farmable land, and some of the best of it is in nearby Nenana. He sees the tremendous growth potential in turning Alaska-grown ingredients into value-added products, such as heat-and-eat meals.
2019 Election results
More Owners voted in our annual Board of Directors election than ever before. We received ballots from 488 of our 3070 eligible voters. That’s 16.5%, many more than the 307 needed to achieve the 10% required by our Bylaws.
• Art Gelvin was elected to Seat B
• Brian Kassof’s appointment to Seat D was confirmed
• Anduin McElroy’s appointment to Seat I was confirmed
• The amendment to our Bylaws was passed, decreasing the number of board seats to seven from nine and the board quorum to four from five.
Thank you to all Owners who voted in our election and to those who attended our Annual Meeting. You are the heart of our co-op!
Hey, Owners! It’s time to vote!
What? Are you sick of all the election rhetoric already? Think your vote doesn’t count?
Well, at the co-op, it does. In fact, we need votes from at least 10% of our Owners for our election to be valid. That means we need at least 327 votes this year.
What are you voting for? We have four open seats on our nine-member board of directors. This year we have five candidates for those four seats. Our directors serve three years.
Having a knowledgeable, strong board is critical to the continued health and success of your co-op. Board members serve as stewards, ensuring that the co-op is legally and financially sound. They represent you, their fellow Owners, in a democratic process, making sure your values are reflected in long-range goals and decisions
How can you vote? There are several options.
- If you have an email address on file with us, we have sent you an invitation to vote on-line using My Direct Vote from Survey and Ballot Systems. The on-line election process is very easy, and the ballot includes profiles of each of our candidates.
Note: The emails went out at 8:30 a.m. today (9/22). If you didn’t receive an email, please check your spam folder. The email is titled “Important: Login Info for Co-op Market Board Election,” and it was sent by Kristin Summerlin at Co-op Market from noreply@directvote.net. (If you didn’t receive a ballot and want to vote on-line, please email marketing@coopmarket.org with your name, Owner number and correct email address. We’ll send another copy of the invitation to you.)
- We are mailing candidate profiles and paper ballots to Owners who don’t have emails on file. You can vote and return your ballot by mail or drop it off at the ballot box at Customer Service.
- We’ve posted the candidate profiles and ballot here. You can print it out, vote, and mail it or bring it to the store.
- And of course candidate profiles and paper ballots are available in the store.
Voting continues until 5 p.m. October 20th, and results will be announced that night at our Annual Meeting. As in years past, the Annual Meeting will be held at Birch Hill Recreation Center, with doors opening at 5:30 p.m. and a light soup supper provided by our Deli, followed by a short business meeting and door prizes.
Last year, nearly 14% of you voted. Let’s see if we can get that number up even higher this year!
It’s Time to Vote: Board Elections and Amended Bylaws
COOPERATIVE PRINCIPLE #2: DEMOCRATIC MEMBER CONTROL. Cooperatives are democratic organizations controlled by their members, who actively participate in setting their policies and making decisions.
Every year, our Owners help shape the future of our co-op by voting for a Board of Directors. In 2015, we have five open seats on our nine-member board. The ballot also includes Owner confirmation of one director who was appointed by the board to fill a vacancy.
This year, Owners also have the opportunity to approve amendments to our bylaws, which have not been updated since they were adopted in 2011. Bylaws are the written rules that govern our co-op. They are a legal document that sets forth the structure of the board and co-op, determines the rights of our Owners and the procedures for exercising those rights. Bylaws guide our board in conducting business, ensure fairness and provide legal protections.
You can view both the amended bylaws and the original version adopted in 2011 by clicking here.
Voting is your right and your responsibility as an Owner of Co-op Market.
Last year we offered our Owners the option to vote on-line for the first time. Electronic voting was a great success, so we’re doing it again this year. If we have a valid email address on file for you, you should receive a link to the on-line ballot via email. Click here for helpful suggestions on how to vote electronically.
If we don’t have your email address, we will send a paper ballot via the USPS. Paper ballots are also available in the store, or click here to print your own copy.
(BTW: You can help us leave trees in the ground, reduce paper waste and save money on postage by making sure your email address is current. We’ve provided a space on the paper ballot for an update.)
The deadline for voting is 5 p.m. October 15. Election results will be announced that night at our Annual Meeting at Birch Hill Recreation Area.
We must have ballots from a minimum of 10% of our Owners for the election to be valid, so your vote is very important! (Each Owner number gets one vote: Please confer with others who share your Ownership before voting.)
THANK YOU FOR INVESTING IN OUR COMMUNITY-OWNED GROCERY STORE – AND FOR HELPING GUIDE IT!
How to Vote for Your Board of Directors Electronically
This year we’re again offering electronic voting through DirectVote by Survey & Ballot Systems. Every Owner with a current email address on file should receive an email invitation to vote on-line.
Voting electronically makes voting and tabulating the results a lot easier, but it does require some ability to be “tech savvy.”
So, to help you we, we offer these words of advice.
1. WAIT – If we have your current email address, you will receive an email directly from DirectVote by Survey Ballot Systems on September 14th.
2. PREPARE – Your internet server might think the email is spam. To avoid this, add noreply@directvote.net to your approved email list (whitelist).
3. CHECK YOUR SPAM – If you don’t receive an invitation email by noon, please check your spam folder. Look for this email header: “Important: Login Information for Co-op Market Board Election.”
4. COPY AND PASTE – DirectVote will send you a username, password and URL address to use when voting. The URL may or may not appear as a clickable hyperlink depending on your email service. If it isn’t clickable, simply copy and paste the address into your browser address bar.
5. WATCH FOR POP-UP BLOCKERS – You can read about each candidate before voting, but you will have to click a button on the ballot to do this. The candidate biographies will pop up. Some browsers don’t allow pop-ups, so you will need to disable the pop-up blocker for this ballot.
6. READ ALL THE INSTRUCTIONS – Be sure to read everything on each screen of the ballot so that you do not miss important instructions. This will help prevent frustration and problems.
7. SUBMIT your ballot. Your vote will not be complete until you hit the “submit” button on the ballot confirmation page.
If electronic voting is troublesome or if you don’t get the invitation email, please send an email to Kristin Summerlin, Marketing and Owner Services Manager, at ksummerlin@coopmarket.org. She will also be able to help you if your email address has changed.
We will mail paper ballots to Owners with no email address on file. We will also offer paper ballots at the check-out registers. You will need to have your Owner number to vote. If you don’t know your number, ask a cashier to look it up for you. Remember that there is only one vote per Owner number, even if several people in your household use that number.
Thank you for helping us save trees by voting on-line! And thank you for participating in the democratic management of your co-op.
Help Shape the Future: Join Our Board of Directors
You own a grocery store! Have you ever thought about it that way? You took a leap of faith and invested your money in Co-op Market Grocery & Deli. You built a vibrant new retail food co-op, the first one in Alaska.
As a Member-Owner, you can do more to ensure our success than just shop with us. You can help shape the future of Co-op Market and make sure we remain true to our values and mission as we continue to grow. You can serve on our Board of Directors.
Co-ops are not just businesses: They are democratic organizations governed by an elected Board of Directors made up of Member-Owners. Our nine-member board is the legal steward of the Co-op and fulfills the obligations of running a business. The board provides leadership, vision and guidance. It oversees wise use of Co-op resources and sets long-range goals.
Cooperatives are based on the values of self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity and solidarity. In the tradition of their founders, cooperative members believe in the ethical values of honesty, openness, social responsibility and caring for others. (Find out more about cooperative values and principles here.)
This year the board will be finalizing its board policies and Ends Statement and will begin to work with our General Manager to clarify our plan for growth and expansion.
Do you believe in the cooperative values and principles? Are you passionate about bringing good healthy food to the community? Do you want to help create a flourishing local economy with a real focus on sustainability? Do you have a background in business or volunteer organizations and relevant life experiences to share? You’re an ideal candidate!
Here are some things you need to know.
The Board of Directors
- oversees the Co-op’s financial condition.
- connects to our owners.
- shapes our Co-op’s vision and works closely with our General Manager to set long-term strategies.
The Co-op Market board operates under the Carver Policy Governance Model.
To be eligible, candidates
- must be Member-Owners of Co-op Market Grocery & Deli in good standing.
- cannot be a Co-op Market employee.
- must know how to focus, communicate clearly, and understand strategic thinking.
- should have prior experience making decisions in a group setting.
- must be able to undertake fiduciary responsibility on behalf of the Co-op and its owners.
Directors serve for a two-year term. For 2014/2015, four of the nine board seats are up for election.
The board meets monthly. Directors commit to an average of 4 to 8 hours of service per month, depending on committee and project workload. They also commit to attend yearly national cooperative training and conferences.
Applications are available here, or you can get a paper copy at the customer service desk. Completed applications, along with a current digital photograph, are due by September 5, 2014. (Your photograph should be a headshot only and in .jpg format.) All Member-Owners will receive candidate bios, photos and a ballot. On-line and paper ballot voting will begin on September 25. Winning candidates will be announced at our annual meeting on October 23.
For more information, please contact Board Chairman Robert Leach at board@coopmarket.org.
