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What
is a Cooperative Board?
Linking
to Members
Contacting Your Board of Directors
Board Information
What
is a Cooperative Board?
The role of the board is best understood by identifying with the word
'govern'. When a body governs, it makes decisions on the behalf of others
for the good of the whole. A cooperative board makes decisions which benefit
the co-op's members.
Members
elect a board because it is unrealistic to have everyone participate in the
decisions necessary to run the cooperative. The board acts as a body. The
board body determines the long-term direction of the cooperative. It also
determines the co-op's mission and vision statements, as well as policies
that direct the cooperative's management in running the business.
Board
members hold this decision-making authority only when they are acting in the
board body; individually, each board member is just like any other member of
the cooperative. The board body is clearly a powerful tool of the
cooperative.
Linking
to Members
One
way a board performs the work of the cooperative is to link to its members.
Board members must find out what members need from the cooperative, and then
report to the members on the success of meeting those needs.
Ways
in which members can contact North Farm board members is by phone, fax,
letter, e-mail, or by attending a board meeting. The board also solicits
input from members by way of surveys and balloting. The board in turn then
communicates to the members through articles in the various newsletters of
the cooperative, letters and phone calls, at chapter meetings and at the
annual General Membership Meeting.
Contacting
your Board of Directors
The
North Farm board has ten members. Currently there are four at-large
representatives that are elected by the entire membership base.
Additionally, four board members are elected by their individual chapter. Two
representatives from the warehouse complete the makeup of the board.
Please
feel free to contact your board of directors. Do you have a compliment to
pass on? Maybe you have an opinion about equity. Your conversations with
your board can run the gamut from deliveries to customer service to product
policy to the General Membership Meeting. These types of communications
should initially be sent to the member services team at North Farm, as they
will initiate the research necessary to answer your communication, yet it is
also important to contact your board of directors as well.
As
a member, you are also the owner of this cooperative. Your input is vital for the board to perform their job accurately and completely.
Chapter
States
Michigan
Chapter
Michigan
Wisconsin Chapter
Wisconsin
Midwest Chapter
Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Illinois
Big West Chapter
Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana,
North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming
Board
Information
The directors for the 2001-2002 board calendar year are:
Mark
Thomas, At-Large Representative (President)
801 Hazen St., Paw Paw, MI 49079
616-657-7745 x3219 thomasm@msue.msu.edu
Mark
Slagh, Michigan Chapter (Vice President, Planning)
5095 Smokey Hollow Lane, Clarkston, MI 48348
markslagh@hotmail.com
Bill O'Donnell, Wisconsin chapter
(Vice President, Personnel)
208 Royce Rd., Hancock, MI 49930
906-482-7414 wjodonne@up.net
Sheila
Herman, Big Sky Chapter (Treasurer)
601 Lansing Lane, Bismarck, ND 58504
701-223-0545 sgja@prodigy.net
Wendell
Nekoranec, At-Large Representative (Secretary)
422 Palm St., Rothschild, WI 54474
715-359-0155 wendell@synergythinking.com
Alan
Cina, Midwest Chapter
4131
Magnolia, St Louis, MO 63110
314-773-0841 7611.1124@compuserve.com
Seth
Nowak, At-Large Representative
437 W. Johnson St., Madison, WI 53703
608-2551833 coop_seth@yahoo.com
Tom
Nesler, At-Large Representative
10829 S. Turtle Townhall Rd., Beloit, WI 53511
608-365-7898 tomnesler@aol.com
Jenny
Hanson, Warehouse Chapter
608-241-2667 x2673 jennyh@northfarm.com
Ian
Wylie, Warehouse Chapter
608-241-2667 iwylie@mail.chorus.net
Any
other questions can be directed to the board's administrator, Dottie Dykstra,
dottied@northfarm.com,
608-229-2666.
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