The change in seasons brings with it a change in leadership here at Chequamegon Food Co-op. Meagan Van Beest has resigned her positions as general co-manager and marketing & member services manager. She will be leaving the Co-op at the end of this week. Meagan will move to the Twin Cities for a new job
In case you missed it, over 100 owners met for our Annual Meeting the last week of April. We dined on tacos made by the Deli and enjoyed beer courtesy of Beechwood Sales & Service. On the agenda was a review of the past year, appreciation for outgoing board president Steve Sandstrom and board member
Get ready to eat, talk, and vote! Learn more about what has happened in the past year and join us for our Annual Meeting on Thursday, April 26, 2018 starting at 5:00 p.m. at the Northland College Dining Hall, in the Ponzio Center. Didn’t get your tickets? That’s okay, you can join us anyway! We will
Get ready to eat, talk, and vote! Learn more about what has happened in the past year and join us for our Annual Meeting on Thursday, April 26, 2018 starting at 5:00 p.m. at the Northland College Dining Hall, in the Ponzio Center. We will review the 2017 financial information, discuss our goals for 2018,
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Annual Meeting At the Northland College Dining Hall Thursday, June 1 • 5 p.m.-8 p.m. RSVP at the registers by May 21! PARTY & MEETING – Eat, talk, and vote! It’s our annual cooperative meeting to discuss the past year and elect Board officers. Learn more about what has happened in the past year
At its Tuesday, June 21, 2016 meeting, the Chequamegon Food Co-op Board of Directors approved an interim general management team to temporarily assume the duties of outgoing General Manager Harold Vanselow. In January 2016, Harold announced that he would retire on June 30, 2016. The Board faced the daunting task of finding Harold’s replacement and launched a
The Chequamegon Food Co-op Board of Directors will hold its annual election at the annual meeting in April. There are four positions open on the board. To declare your candidacy, please fill out the candidate questionnaire (available here or at the Customer Service Desk). Paperwork must be returned by February 1, 2016 for publication in the spring edition of The Grapevine. Candidates who decide
Thanks to the more than 200 member-owners who attended the Annual Meeting last night at CESA #12 in Ashland. Several items of note happened at the meeting, and they are as follows: The revised bylaws were accepted. Justus Grunow, Sarah Lehr, and Jarrod Stone-Dahl were voted onto the Board of Directors. John Beirl was thanked
ELECTION INFORMATION Chequamegon Food Co-op owners can vote in-store to elect new Board of Directors representatives for the Co-op’s 2015 election cycle. Voting begins in-store on March 23, 2015 and ends on April 6, 2015. Only one ballot is allowed per owner household, and duplicate ballots will not be counted. If a ballot is cast
This year’s annual meeting should prove to be one of our biggest and best yet. We have welcomed many new owners since we opened our doors to the new Co-op in September. If you’d like to learn more about what has happened in the past year, please join us for our Annual Meeting on Tuesday,
A message from Jarrod Stone-Dahl, board president It’s been a few months since we’ve last checked in and I have to say that good things are happening at our Co-op! At the board level we’ve seen a very large spike in new owners joining the Co-op. This is a great gauge of the growing interest