Your co-op, September 2005

Notice of PCC’s fall member meeting

Wednesday, October 19, 7 p.m.
Center for Urban Horticulture
University of Washington
3501 N.E. 41st Street, Seattle, WA

Directions to the Center for Urban Horticulture are available (PDF) or call 206-547-1222. Free parking. Metro bus routes 25, 65 and 75.

Dinner will be served at 7 p.m. Please RSVP by October 12 by calling 206-547-1222.

Board report

The board met on July 26. It created several task forces and elected chairs who will focus their groups on the following areas: board development (Linnea Noreen, chair), CEO evaluation (Bob Cross, chair), finance (Don DeSantis, chair), linkage (Julie Tempest, chair), staff relations (Kanwal Kaur, chair) and sustainability (Alexander Rist).

The date and location for the fall member meeting were approved (see notice this page). The business portion of the meeting will feature an opportunity for members to ask questions of the board and management. There will also be an educational hour with speakers to be announced in the October Sound Consumer and on our Web site by September 15.

The board also approved a management plan to move forward on a new PCC store (see news release.

Pictured here are the nine PCC members who serve on PCC’s board of trustees. While the CEO is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the co-op, the board establishes long-term goals (Ends policies). Current board chair Bob Cross notes, “We take very seriously our responsibilities as representatives of the members and are always interested in hearing their ideas and concerns. Member linkage is one of our most important jobs.”

The board invites members to participate by attending membership and board meetings, by responding to Sound Consumer, online and telephone surveys, and by coming out to meet the board at monthly “Talk to the Board” store visits.

“Now in its third year, the ‘Talk to the Board’ program has become a successful member linkage vehicle,” says Linkage Task Force chair Julie Tempest. “We look forward to getting input on a variety of issues this year. The visits offer an opportunity for informal face-to-face conversations with our members outside of a structured meeting setting,” Tempest adds.

The first store visit of this board year was at the Issaquah Healthy Living Fair in August. Board members visited with members, patrons and vendors over the two-day event.

This month’s Talk to the Board event:

• Saturday, September 17
  Kirkland PCC, 12 to 2 p.m.

Member satisfaction survey planned

In September, some PCC members will receive a phone call from the Gilmore Research Group. The PCC Board of Trustees has hired Gilmore, an independent marketing research and public opinion firm, to survey our members.

The survey will help PCC determine what we are doing well and where improvements might be made. We encourage you to participate if you are called. The survey takes seven to eight minutes to complete. Your comments to the researcher will be kept confidential.

Interested in board service?

The nominating committee would like to hear from you. Committee chair Kim Norton reports that the nominating committee is now meeting with current board members to get feedback on the kinds of skills that would be beneficial to add to the board, as well as the issues that will face future board members.

“With seven stores and 2004 sales of nearly $90 million, and an eye toward growth, it’s more important than ever that PCC board members are able to bring knowledge from relevant business fields to bear on their decisions about PCC’s future,” notes Norton. “We’re eager to hear from people with applicable professional experience including, but not limited to, retail grocery, commercial real estate, public relations, human relations, legal, finance, information technology and health sciences.”

The application deadline is Friday, December 2, 2005 at 5 p.m. For an application packet or more information, call Janice Parker at 206-547-1222 or email

Public education and policy

Environmental Defense is thanking PCC for its help in successfully winning restrictions on antibiotics in animal feed. PCC has sent three letters to lawmakers about this issue over the past few years.

Now, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has taken unprecedented action. For the first time, the FDA has withdrawn an agricultural antibiotic from the market because of concerns about antibiotic resistance affecting human health. See Public Policy statements to read PCC’s letters.