Critical updates, volunteer opportunities, and outcomes from Nov 17 meeting

Another successful organizing meeting for creation of a food co-op in Ellensburg!

20+ people joined us on Tuesday night. We had fun, we were productive - but next time you're an hour late, Greg Parker, you owe us some Iron Horse beer.

Critical highlights/updates

• Our next meeting will be Tuesday, December 1, 6-8pm at the Ecumenical Church, 400 N Anderson (1/2 block behind Safeway). Everyone is welcome, so please come - and bring friends.
  
  
• Please post comments, questions, and ideas to the blog. I just modified the settings, and we want to see your ideas and questions. (Thanks, Dan B)
  
  
• We've broken out the work ahead into four different focus areas, and we have volunteers signed up to make it happen!
  

Read on to see where we're at with this - and if you want to help out with a particular project, inquire directly with the folks listed below.


Focus Areas for volunteer work



We spent about 30 minutes in a creative brainstorm - kind of a modified "world cafe". Everyone broke into 4 small groups, each with a different focus area to work on. We rotated once, so everyone had the chance to give input to 2 of the 4 focus areas. For each focus area, the questions we asked ourselves were: 1. What do we need to learn about for this, and how could we learn? 2. What resources do we already have, and what resources do we need to do this work? 3. What needs to happen in the next 3 months? By the end of the year? Before our next meeting on Dec 1?

Here are the results, in no particular order:

1. The Business End: incorporation and bylaws, fundraising/financing strategy

Volunteers:
Jim Baird (financing options)
**Jessie Alan, jessie.alan@gmail.com (articles of incorporation and bylaws, business plan outline)
Greg Parker (site selection and related budget/operational projections)
Zach Zink
Danny Arranaga (financing and startup budget)

Financing - member equity, member loans, business loans, corporate sponsorship, grants from foundations

Business plan

Jessie has experience; has a boilerplate outline

Membership structure

What data is needed to create the budget?

Find a pro-bono attorney for help with articles & bylaws.

2. Producers & Suppliers: local producers and additional sourcing options

Volunteers:
**Sam Albright, sam@quiltcut.com
Denise Horton
Dan Eldridge (farm lists)
Jenny Hansen (what questions do we need to ask our suppliers to judge if they're a good fit?)
Susi Lundquist (making contacts/relationship with Azure)

Who all is out there...survey, list, contact info

Who are our local producers?

farmer's market, current co-op (Susi and Matt, Wilson Creek), distributors, grower organizations, eat local directory

What do they have, when do they have it, how much, and current distribution method(s)

What is available locally, so that we know how regional we are

Can we get a consistent supply from the producer?

organic, fair trade

do we source from far away? Bananas, coffee, etc

food label ingredients - how "pure" are canned, processed foods

Need producer coordinator - responsible for calling growers and coordinating orders

Do we want to work with individual growers? Distributors?

Azure Standard (Matt and Susi Lundquist) - possible to get supply from them?

What is "local"? "regional"?

3. Consumer Members: learning who they are and what they need, outreach&recruitment

Volunteers:
**Gary Koch, garyocity@gmail.com
Joann Bennett
Stefanie Wickstrom (experience with survey design)
Dan Beck
Becky Pearson
Keyna Bugner
Sonja Wright (can help with the survey)
Jeff Hansen
Jen Zarnoch (can help "make things pretty" - design marketing/outreach pieces)

Goal: create survey participants. Online survey; hard-copy survey/canvassing; booth at farmers market

Newspapers: The Record, the Observer

Radio

Master Gardeners/Extension office

Farmers Market

Thursday @ Fair

Shrub Steppe Booth

Churches, church bulletins

Flyers - library, coffee shops, campus (Shape Up Kittitas County) (bi-lingual) (KCPH)

Generate a mailing list, starting with all the people at the co-op meeting

Create survey

CWU - check on class project potential. Grad student assistance?

Survey topics

Willingness to pay/join

"what would you pay for"...range of choices

what products would you want?...range of choices

Purchasing values

organic

local

vegan

gluten-free

bulk

vitamins?

animal food

4. Steering Committee: coordinating short-term activities, developing the 1-3 year strategy

Volunteers:
Dan Eldridge
**Dan Beck, heloderma@fairpoint.net
Danny Arranaga
Mike Williams
Jim Baird
Corey Wright
Gary Koch

Listening (is critical - listen to each other, the entire group, and all stakeholders.)

Big Picture (thinking - 40,000-ft view of how what we're doing now fits into the context of the whole)

Vision

Commitment (esp. of time)

Diversity/Flexibility (open to all points of view, able to make decisions to change course when necessary)

Prioritize 1,2,3 (know what's most important to focus on at the time)

Self-selecting members (totally voluntary; commitment, passion and resourcefulness are more important than experience)

Action Plan

Timelines

Delegate