PCC Board of Trustees report, March 2015
This article was originally published in March 2015
Notice of annual membership meeting
Tuesday, April 28, 5:30 p.m.
St. Demetrios Hall
2100 Boyer Ave. E., Seattle, WA
Dinner will be served at 5:30 p.m.
RSVP by April 21, 2015 online
- Directions available at pccmarkets.com.
- Free parking.
- Accessible by Metro Bus: http://tripplanner.kingcounty.gov/
Celebrating a new era of operational leadership
The evening will begin with a delicious meal developed especially for you by a team of chefs from the PCC Cooks and PCC deli teams. We’ll be celebrating our award-winning culinary education program, PCC Cooks. We’ll trace its history and evolution and honor retiring program manager Marilyn McCormick.
Dinner will be followed by reports on the state of our co-op from management and the board. Our new CEO, Cate Hardy, will make her first report to membership. She will look back at 2014 and ahead to what’s planned for PCC in 2015, including an update on our new Columbia City store scheduled to open mid-year.
You’ll then meet the four candidates in the 2015 board election. The election dates are April 28 through May 18.
Our candidates are:
- Maggie Lucas (parent, attorney), incumbent, current board chair
- Sandy Voit (divorce financial planner), incumbent
- Jason Filippini (senior director of finance at The Seattle Times)
- Michael Hutchings (business and social purpose attorney, partner at DLA Piper)
In order to give our members more time to consider how they will place their votes, we’ll post the candidates’ biographical information and campaign statements on our website by March 30. We’ll also post brief videos of the candidates’ annual meeting presentations. They’ll speak to why they’re running and what they think they would bring to board service. The information will remain posted throughout the election period, April 28 through May 18.
You’ll receive your printed information, including your ballot, by mail to your home inside the May Sound Consumer. Completed ballots may be mailed or returned at the annual meeting. Beginning April 29, completed ballots may also be returned to PCC stores or the co-op office through the end of day May 18.
Board hires a new CEO
Cate Hardy has been selected by PCC’s board to lead our co-op. She began work in late January. Board chair Maggie Lucas and trustees Carol Binder and Stephen Tan served on the CEO search committee along with senior managers Randy Lee and Nancy Taylor. The committee, after conducting a months-long national search, recommended Hardy to the full board, which approved the hire.
“Cate Hardy impressed us from the day we met her. She shares the ideals of our cooperative, and she has the character, skills and experience to lead PCC in service of its mission. We’re extremely pleased that she’s joining PCC’s team,” noted board chair Maggie Lucas.
Randy Lee, who has served as interim CEO since May 2014, says, “[Hardy’s] …background and values are ideally suited for guiding PCC’s growth in an increasingly competitive environment and to strengthening PCC’s triple-bottom-line business approach.”
“PCC is recognized and admired in the Pacific Northwest as a natural foods retailer that has achieved continual success through high product standards, sustainable business practices, and putting its community of members, customers, growers and suppliers first,” says Hardy. “I am thrilled to be joining this regional and industry leader and look forward to working with PCC’s team of dedicated and talented employees to continue PCC’s record of growth and impact.”
Hardy earned an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and a bachelor of science in accounting from the University of Florida. She serves on the board of Seattle-based FareStart, a culinary training and job placement program for homeless and disadvantaged individuals.
Next board meeting
The next board meeting will be March 31 at the co-op office at 5 p.m. with member comments at 6 p.m. Comments are limited to three minutes unless a longer presentation is approved by the board chair.