Author name: Chequamegon Food Co-op

Here are the candidates for the 2017 Board of Directors. We have three spots open and four candidates. Voting will be held in-store until Wednesday, May 30, 2017. Final voting will be held at the Annual Meeting on Thursday, June 1, 2017 at Northland College in Ashland, Wisconsin.

 

Derek Campbell

Describe your experience with this cooperative and cooperatives generally.
I am the former employee of the Co-op, current member, and a shopper since moving to Ashland from Mars in 1996. I have also been a member of Honest Weight Co-op (Albany, NY) and Harmony Food Co-op (Bemidji, MN). I love co-ops. We didn’t have one on Mars. SAD!

Summarize your professional experience and relevant skills. What unique skills, personal qualities, or perspectives will you bring to the board?
If you, the owners, elect me to serve on the Board, there are a variety of skills I would apply to the position. I have sound understanding of budgeting and some knowledge of the Co-op’s current situation. I know how to listen, compromise, laugh, and promote sustainable ideology.

What’s your vision for the future of our cooperative? What makes you passionate about the Co-op and/or its mission?
I foresee a cooperative that will continue to grow both its membership and fiscal stability in an increasingly competitive market. A co-op that honors its employee knowledge and labor through quality compensation. Where the actions of the co-op represent our value of the individual, the community, and our entire planet.

Why are you interested in serving on the Co-op’s board of directors?
The Co-op is an idea 41 years in the making. Our organization has had a profound effect on the health of our bodies, our local economy and land use, as well as respect for workers throughout the world. I want to be a part of continuing and expanding this legacy.
Add anything else you feel is relevant to your candidacy.
We are aware that our planet is facing some enormous issues and the juggernaut of “progress” is seemingly unstoppable. We can choose a healthy future full of respect for ourselves, our farmers, and our planet. we have proven that it is all local. Thank you for your consideration. Peace.

 

Justus Grunow

Describe your experience with this cooperative and cooperatives generally.
In addition to being a lifelong co-op shopper, I’ve served on the Chequamegon Food Co-op board for the past two years, holding the offices of treasurer and now vice president. I’ve helped guide the Co-op as we’ve grown into our new shoes post-expansion and tackled questions of what that means for our identity and our future.

Summarize your professional experience and relevant skills. What unique skills, personal qualities, or perspectives will you bring to the Board?
I was homeschooled through my entire childhood, graduated from WITC-Ashland in 2010, and have worked as a System Administrator at Memorial Medical Center for the past five years. As a young working professional, as a child of the region, and as someone who is very concerned with protecting the environmental and economic health of our community, I feel that I would bring a unique perspective to the board. I am dedicated, organized, enjoy working on a team towards a common goal, and am not afraid to get dirt under my fingernails.

What’s your vision for the future of our cooperative? What makes you passionate about the Co-op and/or its mission?
I’m passionate about the Co-op’s mission: ensuring that our community has access to healthy, locally produced food, and a sustainable and thriving economy. The Co-op is already an important local economic player, employing 40 people and contributing $2.4 million back to the local economy last year. We also foster local food production by providing farmers with interest-free loans through the successful Chip for Change program, so that they can grow their operations.
I envision a future where the Co-op is at the heart of a local foods revolution, in which not only are meats and produce produced locally, but also value-added products that can begin replacing the conventional items: packaged soup made from local ingredients, granola made with local grains and fruits, dried apples and ciders from local orchards. This is what we need to work towards to have a strong and resilient community.

Why are you interested in serving on the Co-op’s Board of Directors?
While the Co-op explores its own identity and mission, the Board is also going through a period of self-development. We’ve had a fairly high level of board turnover recently, and I would like to continue my work in helping to establish and persist a strong board culture during this transitional time.

Add anything else you feel is relevant to your candidacy.
I’m active in working to protect the health of our region from threats that often seem endless. As members of our community, I believe we all have a responsibility to support projects that promote a healthy environment and local economy, and to oppose projects that threaten our clean water and our economic resilience. As a board member, I would like to serve as a liaison between the Co-op and community-based activism as we all work towards the health and prosperity of the place we call home.

 

Grace Heitsch, M.D.

Describe your experience with this cooperative and cooperatives generally.
I pioneered the Bemidji, MN co-op in the early 70s. I grew up on the Weavers and Wobbly. I’m indoctrinated.

Summarize your professional experience and relevant skills. What unique skills, personal qualities, or perspectives will you bring to the Board?
I am a pediatric doctor who focuses on holistic health and wellness.
Skills-wise, I have experience with community organizing, speaking, and ideas.
What’s your vision for the future of our cooperative? What makes you passionate about the Co-op and/or its mission?
This is about our kids’ future. Whole foods without chemicals leads to whole health. Kids without chemicals leads to our future, whole and healthy.

Why are you interested in serving on the Co-op’s board of directors?
My kids are grown and I am no longer working full time. It’s time to pay it forward.

 

Kenneth Tuckwell

Describe your experience with this cooperative and cooperatives generally.
My wife and I are shoppers and owners of the Chequamegon Food Co-op. In addition prior to my retirement in 2016 I served as the Ashland County Environmental Health Specialist and oversaw the program that licensed and inspected not only this co-op but all retail food in Ashland County.

Summarize your professional experience and relevant skills. What unique skills, personal qualities, or perspectives will you bring to the Board?
I have been a Registered Sanitarian for nearly 12 years and graduated with an MS degree in Environmental Public Health in 2004 after obtaining a BS 32 years prior to that. My knowledge of the Wisconsin Food Code, which all grocers, restaurants, and delis operate under, would seem to be a useful resource for employees, owners, and board members of the Co-op.
What’s your vision for the future of our cooperative? What makes you passionate about the Co-op and/or its mission?
My vision for the Co-op is continued growth in membership and sales, particularly among people who are new to the food cooperative experience. I am ecstatic about the loan program and increasing locally grown and raised food in a safe and sustainable way.

Why are you interested in serving on the Co-op’s Board of Directors?
With my retirement I now have the time to devote to community-based endeavors such as serving on the board. With my 30 years of retail experience, public health education, and ten years of retail, restaurant, school, and temporary restaurant food regulation, I would hope to offer the board, owners, and employees some insights and knowledge that might be helpful.