At our Annual Meeting, we spent some time discussing our property acquisition, including issues with getting bank financing.  Due to incomplete financing, we were unable to close on the property at 7th and Poplar as we had planned.  The good news is that we have a verbal commitment for a 3-month extension on our purchase agreement!  This means that we still retain first-choice rights on the property, and can continue to pursue financing for our store.   We have had a huge bump in memberships (260 and counting!), and we continue to pursue Member Loans in order to build up the necessary equity stake that banks want to see in order to finance the remainder of the project.  Keep talking up the co-op with any interested friends and co-workers; emphasize that it is membership now that will make the store happen!  If you have not made a Member Loan, please consider doing so soon.  It is Member Loans which will make financing possible.  We can do this, with your help and enthusiasm! Please keep reading for more information on our plans going forward for successfully acquiring this property.

Financing our store is a very big project.  To help us navigate this task, we have hired Bill Gessner from Cooperative Development Services to review and improve on our pro formas.  As we have always believed, our store is on sound financial footing.  Unfortunately, this does not translate to "easy financing" from banks.  With our current set of assumptions, including membership and member loan goals, our co-op would likely succeed, but securing financing from banks is a difficult hurdle we must face.  Bill is encouraging us to alter our goals to make our store a more finance-able project.  This means raising our membership and member loan goals, which is certainly a daunting but doable prospect.

As part of a planned site-visit, Stuart Reid, the Executive Director of Food Co-op 500, has offered to have an open membership meeting with him to discuss the progress of the store, to answer your questions, and to help us strategize how to pursue our new, higher goals.  Stuart is a wonderful person and a wealth of knowledge for all of us.  We do not have a set date yet, but the meeting should occur in early November, so watch your Inbox for a date and time.

I cannot emphasize enough the importance of attending this meeting, if at all possible. We'd like to get feedback from membership on our fundraising and membership drive up to this point, and get some guidance for what we can do in the future months.  With your help, and with the input of Stuart on these topics, I am positive we can create a successful campaign to reach any goal we set--please come and be a part of this discussion!

I will send out details about this meeting as soon as they are available.

Voting is now open for the first membership election of the Terre Foods Board of Directors.  As you know, we have a current board, but since we did not have a membership yet when the first board was seated, the current Board was appointed rather than elected.  The new Board Members will be the first elected from our membership--truly an historic event!  =)

• Click HERE to go to our online voting system.  Logging in is quick and easy--using your name and your member number--voting takes only seconds!  If you have questions or need help with your member information, please contact membership@terrefoods.org.
  
• Click HERE to view the full bios of the candidates, also available via the voting page.

We have three seats open for voting, and three candidates running for election.  Each Board term is two years.  Three seats are open in odd years, and four are open in even years.  Board seats are elected by the membership; officers are appointed internally by the Board based on interest and qualifications.  The voting system we are using was created by our webhost, NewTech Web Services.  It is a fully-internal voting system, and does not rely on emails or third-party software in any way, so your member information is secure.

VOTE TODAY!

Our membership continues to grow quickly, which is great news.  Our official count is 252 members (with more waiting to be processed), which is a 37% increase since the Annual Meeting.  That is huge, let's keep it up!  Some great news articles, including a Sunday column from Stephanie Salter, have definitely helped push our numbers up. 

• "You + 2" Campaign:  keep up the great work!  Many of the memberships we are getting are coming from this campaign.  Your friends respect you and value your opinion.  You want this store, and you've understood the importance of becoming a member now--this speaks volumes to your acquaintances.  If your friends, family, and co-workers also want a resource like this in town, help them understand how important membership is now!  If you are a new member, you will be receiving a "You + 2" introductory letter and brochures in the mail; if you need additional membership brochures or applications, don't hesitate to ask!
• Membership Parties:  several members have hosted some very successful membership parties--the most recent one bringing in nine new members!  Membership parties are a fun and informal way to introduce your interested friends & family members to the co-op, and are a great way of getting our membership numbers up, while also building community connections and friendships.  Please consider hosting a membership party soon!