2023 Annual Meeting

Thank you to the 125 owners who joined our 2023 annual meeting at Community Beer Works on October 12. For those who could not make it, we would like to share the speeches delivered from our General Manager, Tim Bartlett, and our Board President, Patrick Finan.

Tim Bartlett:

Thank you all for coming out tonight to the co-op’s 52rd annual meeting! This has been one of the most rewarding and challenging years in my 26 years with the Lexington Co-op.  And as is often true, the most rewarding part was also the most challenging.

A year ago, Co-op staff informed the board and management that they planned to form a union.  

And coming out of the pandemic, and all the challenges of managing a retail grocery store through that, I have to tell you, it wasn’t my favorite idea for a project. But we don’t always get to pick our priorities. And we’ve always worked hard to create an inclusive decision making process at every level.

So we dove in.

Our goal from the start was to engage in the collective bargaining process in a way that made our great co-op even better.What I didn’t know is that the collective bargaining process involves a fair amount of heated debate. There were a few key things helped us through these sometimes heated discussions. The first thing that helped us this year was the support and encouragement of our board and members. We received many messages of support and encouragement and accountability from members this year and we thank you for that. This is your co-op and we are here for you.

Several board members are participants and leaders in their own unions in their workplace.  Throughout this year, the board was unanimous in directing us to stay positive. To stay open. To bargain in good faith. To trust the process.

The second thing that helped us stay positive this year was reflecting on the history of the Lexington Co-op. The co-op is an organization that believes in kindness and respect. It’s in our mission statement! But our real strength has always come from the divergent viewpoints that make up the co-op. Vegetarians and meat eaters come together at the co-op.

In other words, this is an organization that argues about stuff. 

In the 70s and 80s, all the decisions at the co-op were made by consensus at monthly owners meetings. Everything from who to hire to what products to carry was decided on through a group process.And that process got heated at times. People refer to the debate about whether to carry tuna as “the tuna wars.” Anybody here for the tuna wars? I wasn’t. But from what I’ve heard, these conversations took months. And they weren’t easy. They were heated. They were passionate. And we did the same for coffee and sugar and who knows how many other project.

In the early 2000s, after we announced our move to Elmwood, there was a lot of disagreement about whether this project was good for the co-op and good for the community. Does anyone remember that? There was a lawsuit, opposition from the neighborhood association, and lots of owner forums where we got together with members and talked it out.  Those meetings weren’t easy. The disagreement got intense. It was hard. 

But ultimately, the times of the greatest disagreement at the co-op  have always preceded the times of our greatest growth and prosperity. In the years following the tuna wars, the co-op created the board of directors system and the equity structure that have kept the co-op solvent through the last 35 years. After the move to Elmwood, our sales tripled over the next three years and we opened the co-op to a whole new community of shoppers, and tripled our purchases from local farmers and producers. 

Disagreement is a part of our organizational DNA. It’s part of our culture. Remembering this helped us stay positive this year even as we navigated some difficult conversations and debates at the bargaining table. And out of all of those debates came a contract that we’re really proud of. We believe this contract is a win for the co-op and a win for the workers. We believe this is an agreement that takes care of workers without requiring us to raise prices for our customers.

We believe this contract will allow us to continue to buy from and support local farmers & producers. We’re proud of the agreement we signed. And we are grateful to all the people who helped shepherd it through – to our attorney Rosemary Enright, to our leadership team and board of directors, and to all the members who gave us feedback and advice throughout the year. 

There is much this year to be proud of and grateful for. 13.1 million of the dollars you spent at the co-op stayed circulating in our local economy this year. Double Up Food Bucks. Change for Change. We worked hard to keep prices competitive despite unprecedented inflation. 

But the change that will have the biggest impact on the future growth and success of the co-op is our new partnership with Workers United. And to them we say welcome. We are excited to have you as our partner in the workplace.

We look forward to continuing a long tradition of debate and disagreement in service of the best possible co-op we can be. Thank you all for being here tonight and being a part of that illustrious history.

Patrick Finan:

Hello everyone! Thanks for coming tonight. I’m Patrick Finan, current Board president. It’s been my privilege to serve our members and broader Co-op community in this capacity for the last two years.

First, I want to thank everyone here: Members, staff, farmers, suppliers, and community partners. In the last year, the Co-op facilitated incredible good in our community, and that goodness comes from the amazing people who make up and support this business. 

By shopping at the Co-op you have kept over $13 million local, and last year the Co-op helped shoppers donate almost $140,000 to area nonprofits. In addition we welcomed even more new member-owners than the year before, 643 to be exact. If any of you are here tonight, welcome to your first annual meeting as a member-owner. All of this is wonderful news to celebrate, so let’s have a round of applause for the incredible local impact we’ve made together.

I’d like to address the fact that this has been a somewhat a-typical election and there has been confusion around the Board’s stance on the union and union-endorsed candidates. I’d like to speak clearly and definitely on this topic: We, the Board, believed from Day One that it was every employee’s right to organize and to cast a ballot to decide if the staff would unionize. We instructed Tim to negotiate a contract in good faith, and upon completion, we happily welcomed Workers United into the Lexington Co-op community. We believe we’re better together. Recently, the Board had concerns around the challenges of navigating rather complex conflicts of interest that could arise. However since the latest union contract is now in place as of a few days ago, the Board has removed any formal objection. 

I have to say, this wasn’t an easy situation to navigate. But our job isn’t just to deal with easy matters. Our job is to discuss and debate things and make decisions that are in the best interests of all stakeholders. Our job is to maintain balance within our dynamic organization.

What does that balance look like?
For member, this might be fair prices and access to healthy local, natural and organic food.
For staff, a rewarding, fair, and safe place to work.
For farmers and suppliers, a steady reliable business to sell what they grow and make for us.
For our community, a business that reflects its needs and exists to strengthen the community it thrives in.

In order to achieve that equilibrium, the Board is required to consider how each action we take impacts all stakeholders, as each group is important to the success of the Co-op. We’re strong because of all of our parts. 

The power in this amazing organization comes from the member-owners. You, the owners, have elected the board and charged us with maintaining this balance and doing this work on your behalf. Thank you for that privilege. 

Before signing off, I’d like to say how grateful I am for our members, for our staff, for our local farmers and suppliers, for the work of my fellow board members. Thanks to all of you for your contributions to the Co-op. 

If you’re curious about how the Board works, please come join us for a meeting, or two, or three. We always make time and space for observers at the start of meetings and we typically meet the first Monday of every month from 7-9pm. In fact our next meeting is right around the corner on November 6. I can’t promise you that it’ll be the most exciting two hours of your life, but you will hopefully learn a lot about how our exciting organization operates. 

Zoom in, put us on while you’re making dinner, or tune in while you’re driving in the car. We’d love to have more folks join and see us in action. I do hope you’ll join us at an upcoming meeting. 

Thank you, thanks for being here tonight, and I hope you enjoy the rest of the evening.