2020 is here and promising to be an exciting year of growth and activity for our co-op as the physical work of the expansion starts to become more and more apparent. A lot of work has been done over the past few years. As a Member-Owner, I had been aware of this work, but over the last year of board service, I have been quite impressed by the agility and creativity that has been tapped into to realize the final vision for this project in astounding detail. Standing at the groundbreaking a few weeks ago, it felt like a leap forward. It was a chance to reflect once more and then suddenly move forward into a whole new phase.

Moving forward, though, does not mean leaving things behind. As the board is empowered by the Member-Owners in a decision-making role, we also have an obligation to ensure that the members are informed of board activities and decisions while keeping in touch with members’ values.

We are very interested in maintaining a strong link between Member-Owners and the board and are actively discussing ways to keep that link vibrant. As mentioned in an article a few months ago, we are open to feedback through several avenues of communication, be it email, the in-store comment box, or by attending a monthly board meeting’s member forum. We remain interested in your feedback and thoughts about what you’d like to hear from your board of directors, be it business information or cultural such as feedback about the annual meeting. We are also committed to being available at future store events. Our next event where you can find us will be the SOUPer Bowl on January 26^th. We hope to see you there!