ENDS POLICIES

A1.      What will be/is different because of the existence of the Co-op? A just marketplace that nourishes the community

This is measured by our Board and General Manager as:

A) Building a thriving cooperative business where a broad cross section of the community comes together as member-owners and as customers to purchase high quality nutritious fresh local, organic, and natural foods.  

B) Ensuring the cooperative offers programs and services and collaborates widely to create a culture of being a place where an exciting exchange of information and ideas flourishes and spins off into development of improved operations, new programs, and new services that enhance the community and meet changing needs.  

C) Ensuring that the cooperative is a good employer with a positive and highly productive working environment where the staff are engaged in the meeting the high standards of the membership for service and quality, where the cooperative meets its living wage goals for its employees by the 5 th year of business or sooner and that it provides excellent benefits, competitive wages, and good training and development opportunities from the start.  

D) Ensuring that there is collaboration among producers, cooperatives, farmers markets, CSA’s and others in the community to create a growing diversity of producers that flourish in the region to deliver locally produced products.  

E) Creating an energy efficient, environmentally friendly grocery operations model within our cooperative’s many systems with an education program that inspires others and challenges ourselves to constantly improve and refine our approaches.  

A2.      Who benefits? Consumers in Hampshire and surrounding counties, and regional producers

This will happen by ensuring that residents in our area are able to use the cooperatives services and that regional producers are finding strong markets for their products, enhancing the environment for the whole region with the benefits of having a vital thriving diverse agricultural based economy

A3.      At what cost? For costs that ensure that the Co-op thrives.

The cooperative’s expenses and income will be balanced in a manner that generates revenues to meet the business obligations, price sensitivities, and programs to fulfill our mission.