Reflections

By Jean Helms, departing General Manager

Thank you for giving me the chance to learn so much about life, the universe and everything over the last ten years as your General Manager. It has been a fun ride, and I can truly say that I have never been bored! Aside from learning more about the grocery business and natural foods than I ever thought possible, I am more business savvy. Book knowledge is great, but I am now a believer that nothing is better training than on the job. It seems impossible to me that I came within a fraction of being the GM ten years ago.

Please help me acknowledge the immense forward movement that our co-op has made in the last decade. As a frame of reference, I want to tell you about a planning process called "Preferred Futuring". Stas Kasmierski, of Zingerman's in Ann Arbor, Michigan introduced the food co-op world to Preferred Futuring when we were faced with the reorganization of our national association. One of the first few steps involves making a list of "Prouds and Sorry's" from the past. After a few years of using this system, Stas decided to stop including the "Sorry's" because he found that people often became fixated on the negatives and things that they could have done better. I am going to follow his lead and not focus on the things that I could have done better. There are many things that I would have done differently. I like to think that I did the best that I could do with the information that I had at the time.

There are a lot of things I am proud that Open Harvest has accomplished over the last ten years. The ones that stand out are increasing staff wages, creating a visually vibrant space, and replacing darn near every piece of equipment all while continuing to grow and prosper. For the numbers people...over ten years we have improved our retained earnings by over $250,000 (from negative $150,000 to positive $100,000), our sales growth in total has exceeded 100% (from about 1.6 Million to about 3.2 Million), our average day has doubled (from average daily sales of $4,500 to $9,000), our membership has doubled and our sales to member-owners has grown from 30% to 55%. It is a bit mind boggling when one looks at it as a complete unit.

A board member summed it up very well the other day with one short comment... "Just think, ten years ago we were trying to decide whether to close our doors, and now we are at a place to consider expansion!" I can easily imagine an Open Harvest of the near future which can better serve customers. Expansion - it's all the rage. Let's all dig deep in the next phase when we work to accomplish more to be proud of decade after decade.

General Manager Resigns: A difficult Decision

Dear Member-Owners,
I have made the decision to leave my position as the general manager of Open Harvest in the near future. My decision is based on many things, including a struggling family-owned business which needs my help. The Board of Directors has received my official resignation with a three-month notice. This takes us through the end of the fiscal year, June 30th.

A hiring committee has been formed, and the process is underway to find a new general manager. If you feel that you or someone that you know may be an ideal candidate, please contact the Board Chair, Keith. As member- owners you also have the right to attend Board meetings the first Monday of every month at our Administration Bldg. 2012 S. 13th St., 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.

In order to ensure that we can accommodate the number of people in this small space, the Board asks that you inform them of your attendance as a guest at the Board meeting by emailing kwdubas@alltel.net or calling 438-0171.

If you would like to discuss this with me, feel free to drop me a note at the store or via email at organic_one@hotmail.com.

Yours in Good Health,
Jean Helms, general manager