Melissa Williams, Anthony Lang, and Deon Whitten - Board Members at CCMA 2023
August Board Report
Anthony Lang, Board Member + Owner Engagement Committee Chair
CCMA 2023
This summer, Merc Co+op Board Members Anthony, Melissa and Deon attended the 2023 Consumer Cooperative Management Association (CCMA) Conference in Sacramento, California. CCMA hosts an annual conference for food cooperatives to discuss all things co-op.
We started with a tour of Pachamama’s new coffee roasting facility. Did you know Pachamama is a 100% farmer owned cooperative? We learned a bit about their cooperative model and roasting operation but mostly we got to taste some of the finest brewed coffee north of Mexico.
Then, we visited a small urban farm where they teach sustainable farming and restorative practices on a piece land once abandoned and forgotten. We witnessed for ourselves the beauty farming brings and all the hard work that goes into it. Finally, we visited the Sacramento Co-op, a bustling 16,000 sq ft store in downtown Sacramento with 8,624 active members and $48M in annual sales. Sac Co-op celebrated its 50th birthday this year and it gave me hope for what our Kansas City store could be in 50 years.
When CCMA started the next day we were treated to guest speakers on the state of our industrialized food system, panels on cooperative farming, and breakout sessions about best practices and pitfalls from other food co-ops throughout the country. We learned how food co-ops started, expand, diversify, innovate, engage and keep making their impact in their own communities. We learned about owner engagement, volunteer programs, loyalty programs, and food education. CCMA was overall very satisfying. We learned that The Merc is a food co-op among hundreds of co-ops that serve communities throughout our country, and that the impact we each make in our community makes a difference for those in our community and beyond.
About the Board
The Merc Co+op's Board of Directors is comprised of nine co-op owners who are elected by the general ownership and serve a three-year term. Any co-op owner can run for a board position.
The board creates a set of policies to govern themselves and the General Manager, who provides the group with regular reports on store operations. The board delegates all operational matters to the General Manager.
Board Meetings
All co-op owners are invited to attend monthly board meetings. Early in the agenda, the board reserves ten minutes of space to hear from owners who wish to address the board.
Run for the Board
A strong and successful cooperative depends on a highly functional and effective Board of Directors to represent owners in our regional community. Our nine-person board, representing all 9,400+ owners, shapes the co-op’s vision while evaluating the performance of the business through Policy Governance. This year, there are three open seats.
Any owner can run for the board, and board benefits include a 15% discount on all your store purchases! Deadline to apply is September 13, 2023.