As we write this, our new general manager (GM), Maura Holliday, continues to work with the interim management team until someone else is hired to fill her previous position as the grocery manager. From the board’s perspective, the transition is going well. We thank everyone — management, staff and members — for your patience as we worked through the options of different management models, and then as we searched for a new GM. (As you are reading, this process may be completed.)

On the expansion front, we’ve hired Seven Roots, a co-operative business based in Minneapolis that offers architecture, design and store development, and which specializes in natural-food stores and co-ops. In May, two smart women from Seven Roots came to EEFC to see our store and to meet board members and managers. Nicole and Maria will help us evaluate our options and work on a store design. They also offer advice on how to include our staff in the process, how to find funding and how to approach many other jobs we need to get to work on.

Does anyone out there want to become more involved with this process? Believe it or not, it’s time to begin thinking about elections of board members. Would you like to be at the table as we decide how to move forward with expansion? Maybe you’d like to work with the GM to monitor the Co-op’s endeavors to meet our ends: creating an open business that supports an ethical food infrastructure, a vibrant and dynamic community, and a vision to transform the future. If so, please consider running for the board. Candidates can apply to run beginning on August 1, 2019. Emily DeFerrari (emilydef@aol.com) is the chair of the Board Perpetuation & Elections (BP&E) Committee, and you can e-mail her with any questions. She would be delighted to speak with you about serving on the board and to review the process for getting on the ballot.

If serving as a director on the board is not in your near future, you might consider serving on a board committee. Currently, the committees open for membership are the Annual Meeting Committee, Member Participation Committee, and the Bylaws Committee. Please visit our website for committee decriptions or contact the board at boardofdirectors@eastendfood.coop for more information.

Finally, the board hopes you will mark your calendars for 11/9/19, when the EEFC Annual Meeting will be held. This is a great time to socialize with other members, hear updates and meet the candidates who will be running for the board. We’ll be meeting at the Eastminster Presbyterian Church in East Liberty again. We are happy to say the church has purchased a bigger screen since last year’s meeting, so we will be able to see the graphs better!

Hope to see you there!