Engaging Our Membership

By Pat Burns, General Manager

We held two very successful Member functions this past month. The first was our annual Member meeting that was also part of our 40th anniversary celebration. On Saturday, October 5, about 283 members of the Co-op enjoyed an excellent breakfast, met our current Board Members, heard from six great candidates for the upcoming Board elections, saw a tremendous video celebrating the history of the Co-op and heard a recap of the previous year's activities from the General Manager.

Second, we just wrapped up the Board elections to select three candidates to represent you as Members of the Co-op. This Board serves as your direct conduit to the General Manager and is involved in top-line policy governance, representing thousands of Members to move the Co-op forward. Of the 8,330 Members eligible to vote, only 404 participated in this process and voted.

I feel like these events were successful because in both the participation was almost the best we've ever had. So why does part of this leave me thinking, “I wish more of our Members were a little more active in the Co-op?” This topic is something that your Board has been discussing on a regular basis since I’ve worked at the Co-op over the past seven years (and before that!).

However when I stop to think about it more, the first three Cooperative Principles come to mind: 1) voluntary and open membership, 2) democratic Member control, and 3) Member economic participation. If you look at our performance and results this past fiscal year, our Membership has increased, the percentage of sales to Members is at an all-time high and our sales numbers have pushed the Co-op to the number one sales position in the United States largely because of our Members’ support.

For those Members who want to do more we have a tremendous number of opportunities to participate in Co-op activities. And a great number of our Members do this through Member work in the community, taking classes, attending City Market sponsored events and much, much more. So as long as City Market continues to meet your expectations of Membership, I'll just say thank you to each of our Members and I appreciate however you choose to participate in the Co-op.

Knowing that our Members have valuable insight to share, we’ve also crafted a short survey to gather your feedback on these recent events, Board elections and our Annual Member Meeting. Share your thoughts and a few minutes of your time. As a thank you, we’ll enter your name in a drawing for two $25 Co-op gift cards.

Thanks for your patronage,
Pat