PCC Board of Trustees report, June 2016

This article was originally published in June 2016

PCC Discovery Day

Various photos from PCC Discovery Day

Clockwise from top left: PCC Cooks instructor Virginia Newman. (l-r) PCC Cooks instructor Sureyya Gokeri, PCC Cooks Manager Alicia Guy and Community Relations Specialist Lamai Cox at PCC Greenlake Village. (l-r) Board candidates Alice Cho Snyder and Paul Reed, PCC Greenlake store director James Parker and PCC CFO Randy Lee at PCC Greenlake.

We hope you were able to join us on Saturday, April 23 to delight in the food and fun of PCC Discovery Day. The event combined the three elements of any successful member meeting: governance, education and great food.

PCC Discovery Day is the reinvention of the PCC member gathering that has been held each year in April. With more than 56,000 members, it wasn’t possible to include all members for a meeting at one place, day and time. By holding the gathering at all 10 PCC stores simultaneously over six hours, we were able to host thousands who dropped in at their convenience.

PCC Discovery Day highlights included PCC Cooks demos, food-sampling stations located throughout each store, and an entertaining video loop featuring state-of-the-co-op messages, board candidate campaign statements, profiles of PCC producers and partners, and updates on popular PCC programs.

Election results

The 2016 business meeting where ballots were counted was to take place on May 26 and the new trustees were to be seated at the May 31 board meeting. There will be a complete report in the Sound Consumer next month. Election results will be posted on our website and in stores by May 31.

The next board meeting will be June 28 at 4:30 p.m. at PCC Greenlake Village.

Thank you

Thank you to these wonderful vendor partners for their Discovery Day participation:

Alaffia • Andalou Naturals Bodyceuticals • Desert Essence Draper Valley Farms • Fran’s Chocolate Gabriel Cosmetics • Gaia Herbs Garden of Eatin' • Garden of Life Halfpops • Maggie’s Organics Mondo & Sons • Nordic Naturals Nutraceutical • Olbas Herbal Remedies Organic Valley • Rainbow Light RUVed Inc. • Solgar • SunRidge Farms Tony’s Coffee • Uncle Harry’s • Vega

Annual report message from the board

2015 was an exciting year for our co-op as we welcomed our new CEO, Cate Hardy, who took the helm early in the year. Your board and CEO together have been focused on ensuring our co-op remains healthy and successful in the future. To that end, much time and effort has been spent discussing and considering sustainable growth plans for PCC — including plans to open a new store in Bothell in 2016.

We have been delighted by how well the new Columbia City store has been received and are so grateful to our members, shoppers and talented staff who have made that — and our other stores — thrive. PCC reached a meaningful milestone during 2015, reaching more than $250 million in annual sales!

The board’s Bylaws Task Force worked diligently throughout the year to review carefully and make substantive revisions to PCC’s bylaws, which are subject to approval by PCC’s membership. We believe the revised bylaws will help ensure that our co-op continues on its path toward a healthy, robust future.

Your board continued its support of PCC Farmland Trust, and it strengthened relationships with other co-ops, both locally and nationally. Five trustees attended the annual Consumer Cooperative Management Association conference where they learned from and shared ideas with the leadership of other co-ops.

Your board of trustees is committed to ensuring a bright, values-driven future for our co-op. With your continued support, PCC is well positioned for future success.

For the board, Julianne Lamsek, Chair, Board of Trustees

Editor’s note: The complete 2015 Annual Report, which includes financials, program highlights and the CEO’s message, is posted on our website.

Also in this issue

Choosing a nutrition bar

Unlike nutrition bars at other stores, those at PCC don't contain artificial preservatives or high fructose corn syrup. Learn about the variety of nutrition bars we carry at PCC — whether you follow a Paleo or vegan diet, we have something for everyone!

Organic is key to help feed the world

Organic agriculture is a relatively untapped resource for feeding the Earth's population, especially in the face of climate change and other global challenges.

Soil & Sea: reports from our producers

Learn how the California nut industry has been rocked with organized crime, farmland planted with GE crops has declined, the popularity of Cosmic Crisp apples is set to skyrocket, and more news from the field.