Reflections

By Jean Helms, departing General Manager

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

Please help me acknowledge the immense forwardmovement that our co-op has made in the last decade. Asa frame of reference, I want to tell you about a planningprocess called "Preferred Futuring". Stas Kasmierski, ofZingerman's in Ann Arbor, Michigan introduced the foodco-op world to Preferred Futuring when we were faced with the reorganization of ournational association. One of the first few steps involves making a list of "Prouds andSorry's" from the past. After a few years of using this system, Stas decided to stopincluding the "Sorry's" because he found that people often became fixated on the negativesand things that they could have done better. I am going to follow his lead and notfocus on the things that I could have done better. There are many things that I wouldhave done differently. I like to think that I did the best that I could do with the informationthat I had at the time.

There are a lot of things I am proud that Open Harvest has accomplished over thelast ten years. The ones that stand out are increasing staff wages, creating a visuallyvibrant space, and replacing darn near every piece of equipment all while continuingto grow and prosper. For the numbers people...over ten years we have improved ourretained earnings by over $250,000 (from negative $150,000 to positive $100,000), oursales 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 membershiphas doubled and our sales to member-owners has grown from 30% to 55%. Itis 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 nowwe are at a place to consider expansion!" I can easily imagine an Open Harvest of thenear future which can better serve customers. Expansion - it's all the rage. Let's all digdeep in the next phase when we work to accomplish more to be proud of decade afterdecade.

General Manager Resigns: A difficult Decision

Dear Member-Owners,
I have made the decision to leave my position as the generalmanager of Open Harvest in the near future. My decision isbased on many things, including a struggling family-owned businesswhich needs my help. The Board of Directors has receivedmy official resignation with a three-month notice. This takes usthrough the end of the fiscal year, June 30th.

A hiring committee has been formed, and the process isunderway to find a new general manager. If you feel that you or someone that youknow 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 ofevery 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 thissmall space, the Board asks that you inform them of your attendance as a guest atthe 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 thestore or via email at organic_one@hotmail.com.

Yours in Good Health,
Jean Helms, general manager