Updates from the Board:

Board Members & GM Attend Leadership Training Workshop:

Chris Bartlett, Eric Henry, and I (Sharon Dent) attended a Cooperative Board Leadership training session in Asheville on January 29th, held at French Broad Co-op (which is a wonderful market by the way!) sponsored by CDS Consulting. Six other co-op groceries were also represented. This continuing training will help CSM's board transition from a 'jack of all trades, do everything' start-up board to a monitoring board under policy governance as Chris, as GM, takes over the operations of an open co-op grocery store. These sessions are extremely helpful for both existing board members as 'refresher courses' and new board members so that all of us understand our responsibilities as board members.

Transitioning...

As construction has begun and is progressing nicely, the board and its committees are working with Chris in a support role to order and schedule all equipment, daily monitoring of the construction and weekly meetings with Weaver Cooke, establishing relationships and contracts with various vendors, planning for meetings with local farmers and producers, the process of interviewing and hiring of employees . . . everything that is necessary to open the store. At the same time, we are slowly transitioning these responsibilities solely to Chris, and that transition is running very smoothly.

A big 'thank you' to Bob Hykes, Rusty Holt, and Bill Moser for going above and beyond in pulling all of the construction and equipment details together.

Sharon Dent
CSM Board President

Local Farm Profile:

Reedy Fork Farm Saves Their Family Dairy by Returning to Traditional (and Organic) Farming Practices

Reedy Fork Farm has been in the Teague family for generations and they started their dairy in 1950. Back a few years ago, it became clear that the conventional dairy business was no longer profitable or sustainable for this small family farm. They were faced with possibility that they would have to close their dairy business. Looking for a way to save the their family heritage, 5th generation farmer, George Teague, became convinced that converting to an Organic Dairy was the answer. He talked to his father Franklin and they decided this was the right thing to do. “We realized we should have just kept doing what we were doing when we started the dairy. We were pretty much organic then.”

By selling organic milk, Reedy Fork Farm was able to keep their dairy in operation and preserve their family farming tradition. “The biggest benefit we’ve seen from going organic is how much healthier our animals are and how much healthier we are.”

Reedy Fork is a supporter of Company Shops Market. George says, “It will be nice to have a place for everybody to buy good, wholesome, local, organic food instead of things that have to be brought in from other areas.”

Video: Watch George Teague and his family tell their story

Interesting Tidbits:

On the Blog:

• Telling the Story of Company Shops Market: Robin Showerman of Bellas House Discusses Local Impact of CSM
  Bella’s House, a local furniture consignment store, was started about 5 years ago by Robin Showerman. Robin was born and raised right here in Burlington. She talks a bit about what downtown Burlington used to be like when she was growing up and how the small locally-owned businesses have been struggling in recent years. She believes that Company Shops Market has potential to bring a big boost in visitors to downtown and really benefit all of the downtown businesses.
    Over the next few weeks, we will be sharing a series of videos centered around featuring Company Shops Market that were created by the Elon U. Fall 2010 Documentary Production Class.

• Why Bulk Foods? – Convenience and Savings
  The co-ops mission is “Connecting our community and enriching our local economy through our owners, or service and our products.” Beyond offering locally produced food items, one of the basic tenets of the co-op is to provide convenient and affordable access to wholesome food options and to benefit the community as a whole.Chris feels that one of the very best ways we can do this is by offering a large and diverse bulk food selection. Bulk foods are a great idea on many levels....

• Growing Slow Money: “Put your money where your values are”
  One of Board Member Eric Henry’s favorite statements is this reminder, “Your voting with your dollars.” When you go to spend your money, its not just about how much something costs. Where does this product come from? Who profits when I buy this? What sort of business practices am I supporting when I buy this? Will this purchase benefit my community and therefore myself? This video illustrates the domino effect of prosperity and goodness when you make good choices for yourself and your community by seeking out local and wholesome products. These are the options and choices that we are trying to promote by opening up Company Shops Market.

• Read these stories and many more on the Company Shops Market Blog

Give the Gift of Community

Give your loved ones the opportunity to actively participate on the creation & governance of our co-op by gifting them an ownership to Company Shops Market. Company Shops owners have the right to vote on important decisions and also receive various perks and benefits, including a free t-shirt or logo tote bag. Click here to learn more about it. 

Gift Certificates Now Available!

Company Shops Market gift certificates are now available in convenient $25 increments. Order them online and we will mail your gift certificates to you. You can also purchase Gift Certificates at any official Company Shops Market event.

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