I have worked with consumer owned grocery retails since the nineties. My first co-op job was with Willy Street Co-op in Madison, Wisconsin. I worked for Willy Street in a variety of roles including Grocery, Merchandising, Operations and Project Manager. As the Co-op grew and developed, I had opportunity to work with store planners, architects, and engineers to develop and manage the site and equipment plans for many growth and expansion efforts. That was fun!
Since I began consulting, I’ve worked with over a dozen Co-op’s facing a variety of challenges, at all stages of maturity, as they weathered planned and unplanned transitions in the role of Interim General Manager. I’ve also supported a few start up Co-op’s through their planning and construction work as they moved from a Co-op in concept to an operating Co-op serving their communities. Working with Co-op’s has taken me to some of the most unique and competitive marketplaces like Boston, Honolulu, and Los Angeles to lesser-known communities such as New London, CT and Blue Hill, ME.
I value the cooperative model as the standard for sustainable businesses. I believe in the commitment that co-ops make to their ownership. The commitment of transparency in operations and being the source of trusted information enabling their communities to make informed decisions. Co-op local ownership and the economic impact of keeping wealth in the community is very compelling to me. Through my work and sharing what I know I hope I to strengthen our workforce and management team’s ability to grow that impact.