From Your Co-Op President

Hello Owners,

We have such a great opportunity to grow a grocery store in Bay City! On behalf of the Board of Directors of the BCCM, I thank you for your trust and faith in us.

We paid our money, and we are patiently waiting for the magic to happen. We are asking when the brick-and-mortar store is coming. We visualize going inside and thinking, “This is my grocery store. Where is the Bulgar wheat? Where are the farm fresh eggs?”

Well, I’m here to tell you: you are the magic. You are the glue!  You are the elbow grease, the brains and the brawn!  So let’s get started. The theme of this month’s letter is growing, volunteering, and getting busy.

I’ve been taking a class from the Food Cooperative Initiative (FCI) for new board members. Each week, the classes are packed with new and wonderful information on how to get your food co-op to the next stage of development. What is the FCI? Well, it is a wonderful non-profit organization that provides models, information, and assistance to help fledgling food cooperatives to achieve their goals and eventually get their food co-op open. For more information on the FCI, see the link: https://www.fci.coop/. They are also on Facebook. The Bay City Cooperative Market has worked with the FCI since its inception. They assisted us with a grant for our outreach coordinator. They host annual conferences and provide a lot of hand-holding through the process.

In the second week of the new board member training, I learned about the necessity of delegation and committees. The more people involved in this process, the more likely it will succeed. As a result of the class, I started forming new committees and have been asking anyone I know to join the Board of Directors!

How can you help? Lots of ways! You can be a board member. We currently have a board of 7 but can add up to 12. We would like to expand to 9. If you are interested, contact us through Facebook or email: info@baycityfood.org.

You can also be on a committee! Our activities committee can always use help. Do you have press or writing experience? Are you a public speaker? We are currently working on creating a publicity committee. We usually meet on Wednesdays at noon at Populace on Saginaw St. in Bay City. Come on out, get a coffee, and help us organize and promote the BCCM through the media. We are also going to start a speaker’s bureau. We will train you and give you a slide presentation; we will even show up to cheer you on as you present to local groups!

We are going to be forming a planning committee. Where is the store going to be? What will it look like? Where is the money going to come from? These questions are for experts in business, law, and accounting, to name just a few. We want you for our planning committee. Time is always an issue, so I promise we will not take much of it. The meetings will be fun! Short-lived! No one gets to where they are going without a plan, so help us formulate it. If you are interested in being on the planning committee, contact me: Kathy.baycityfood@gmail.com.

Let’s talk about three stages of developing a food cooperative next month! And did you notice our new Facebook group? Check it out. Join. It’s just for owners!
In solidarity,

Kathryn Miller, President