Your co-op, August 2007

Board meeting report

The 2007-2008 trustees met on June 26 and elected Julie Tempest as chair. Tempest has served on the board since 2004 and has held several board leadership positions. “I’m gratified and excited about taking on this new role. I look forward to a year full of activity for the board including a comprehensive review of our Ends policies,” Tempest noted.

As required by our bylaws, the board members elected one of their fellow trustees to serve on the 2007-2008 nominating committee. Stephen Tan will join Eva Childers, Kim Norton, Paul Schmidt and Deanna Theiss.

Bill Roach ended his board term and was presented a gift on behalf of the membership to thank him for his service.

The Nominating Committee begins its search for candidates

Over the next three months, it will recruit and screen qualified candidates for the next board election in spring 2008.

Three positions are open for election each year and each trustee serves a three-year term. Trustees receive an annual stipend.

Should you have any questions about the trustee position, or wish to receive an application packet, call Janice Parker at 206-547-1222 or email nominatingcommittee@pccmarkets.com Applications will be accepted until early November.

Next board meeting

The next scheduled board meeting is Tuesday, September 25, at 5 p.m. at the co-op office. Member comments will be heard at 6 p.m.

Talk to the Board

The board members look forward to meeting you during monthly visits to our stores. They’ll be available to members at two coming events:

• Healthy Living Fair
  Saturday and Sunday, August 18 and 19
  10 a.m. to 4. p.m., Issaquah PCC
• View Ridge 20th anniversary celebration
  Saturday, September 29, noon to 4 p.m.

What are Ends policies?

The PCC Board of Trustees works by a method called Policy Governance®. The board translates into policy language the goals it has for PCC. These goals-oriented policies are called “Ends” and they speak, in broad terms, to the board’s current and long-range visions for PCC.

Global Ends
PCC exists to create a cooperative, sustainable environment for our members and patrons in which the natural and organic supply chains thrive.

• Ends A: PCC members and patrons will have access to high quality, healthful food that is fairly priced.
• Ends B: PCC membership is a respected and valued choice.
• Ends C: PCC has a local focus.
• Ends D: PCC members and patrons are well educated in matters of healthful foods, healthy sustainable living, and the cooperative business model.
• Ends E: An inherent part of PCC’s business is the balance of economic, social and environmental responsibilities.

* Interpretation: Management interprets “cooperative environment” in this Global Ends policy to mean that PCC will continue to operate a healthy business as a consumer cooperative and will be supportive of other cooperative endeavors that it has opportunity to interact with, both locally and nationally, especially as those interactions provide value for our members and patrons.

* Report: PCC continued its involvement with other cooperatives through its affiliation and board- and committee-level participation in the National Cooperative Grocers Association (NCGA). PCC staff have worked closely on NCGA’s multi-year effort to negotiate a national purchasing contract that was finally concluded and signed this past year.

This new 5-year contract stands to significantly benefit most of the member co-ops around the country. Including PCC’s substantial purchasing power in the pool with other cooperatives around the country enabled a significant improvement in the contract for the entire group, particularly benefiting smaller co-ops that do not have the leverage to achieve a favorable contract on their own.

* Excerpted from 2007 report on global ends.