by Ben Becker, Newsletter Writer
Oh, what a year it has been! In the short span of the last twelve months your Co-op has continued to grow and change. Many of these changes are clearly visible to our shoppers as they come to visit our stores. However, other major happenings are taking place behind the scenes as well. In celebrating the Co-op’s 48th year, we can look back on all that has occurred.
East Retail Space
At Willy East location, it is pretty hard to miss a new set of aisles near the front of the store. 2022 witnessed the removal of the former Juice and Coffee Bar. In its place, our center store items have expanded. Among the new merchandise are a variety of chocolate and protein bars. You’ll want to try brands like Alter Eco, which comes in varieties such as “Quinoa Crunch,” “Classic Blackout,” and “Burnt Caramel.” In addition to its USDA Organic and Fair Trade certifications, Alter Ego is a certified B Corp that supports regenerative agriculture.
While this new section boasts a wider selection of chocolate, protein, and snack bars, many customers may be missing the old Juice and Coffee Bar. Not to worry! Our East Deli is continuing to brew fresh batches of coffee each day to fulfill your caffeine fix. You can find Just Coffee varieties at the back of the store for purchase. These dispensers are conveniently located close to our bakery items, so you can grab and go.
Juice Production
For those who have been searching for Hot Toddy Mix, you’ll be excited to find that our fresh juices are back on the shelf! In order to meet the demand for our juice made in-house, Willy Street Co-op undertook a multimonth project to centralize production of our popular juice recipes. Starting in the spring and summer of this year, all juice production was discontinued at our East and North locations. During that time, our West Deli expanded into a dedicated juice production area where we created the new operational structures necessary to make juicing as efficient and productive as possible. This transition was successful in no small part thanks to the dedication of our Deli staff and managers. Their hard work and ability to experiment made this big change possible in a very short time. As a result, customers can once again find old favorites such as Green Zinger and Apple Jack readily on hand.
The juice news doesn’t stop there! Our juice production has continued to innovate this year by introducing some exciting technology. Our juices are now no longer made exclusively through centrifugal processing, but we have also incorporated cold pressing equipment. The ability to cold press juice carries a number of benefits. Shifting more of the juice-making to a cold press will optimize the yield we can realize from raw produce. This ensures that we can provide juice to our Owners with the best value possible. The cold press also has a milder impact on the chemistry involved in juicing. Less heat is added, so more of the vitamins and minerals are retained from the fruits and vegetables used. This also extends the products’ shelf life, so Owners can find fresher products on our shelf with more consistent availability with a reduction in potential food waste. Some customers have even reported finding the flavor is better!
Profit Share
As a cooperative, Willy Street Co-op has many ways and means to keep our local economy thriving. One avenue is to keep profits in the pocket of our employees. For each financial quarter that our Co-op sees a profit, a portion of those proceeds is distributed out to staff through our profit-sharing program. Should the Co-op achieve a profit for the entire fiscal year, employees will see an additional distribution on their paychecks. In this way, our business’s profits don’t benefit a small group of shareholders or executives but recognize all of those working hard to serve our customers. With the financial success our cooperative achieved in Fiscal Year 2022, staff enjoyed some of the perks, as a portion of the operating surplus was divided among our employees.
Patronage
It isn’t just our staff members who get to enjoy the perks of profitability. Because Willy Street Co-op is incorporated as a cooperative, it has a unique ability to pay dividends to its Owners that other corporations don’t. While the standard corporate model pays out capital gains based on the number of shares an Owner holds in the company, cooperatives can equitably distribute retained earnings based on how much the Owner-shoppers contributed to the bottom line. This is done through patronage refunds. Owners will receive a non-taxable rebate based on how much they spent at our stores over the past year. Due to a financially successful fiscal year that ended in July, a recommendation for patronage distributions was presented to, and approved by, our Board of Directors. Co-op Owners will see patronage refunds become available to them in the next few months. Read more about this in the General Manager’s Report on page 5.
Annual Meeting Format
In 2021, the Board voted to move the Annual Meeting from July to October. While in prior years, this event was long held at McPike Park as part of La Fete de Marquette, this marked a change for former Annual Meeting and Party, or AMP. Unfortunately, during the Coronavirus pandemic that had far-reaching impacts on social gatherings, Willy Street Co-op was unable to host an in-person annual meeting in either of the years 2020 or 2021. This also meant that the tradition of holding the event at the first night of the local festival could not happen either. In order to accommodate this disruption, staff worked closely with our Board of Directors to hold the annual meeting online. While these meetings were unfortunately not connected to the live music, food carts, or beer tents of La Fete, Owners were still able to connect and participate in this shareholder session and to learn about the state of their cooperative.
With the change in scheduling, the 2022 Annual Meeting presented an opportunity to connect with other parts of our community in a way it has never before. In October, the Annual Meeting took place at the Middleton Performing Arts Center, a mere stone’s throw away from our Willy West. This incredible venue allowed us to host our meeting within a state-of-the-art facility where Owners could attend and hear from both the Board and management in a way they have never done before. At the same time, the Annual Meeting was broadcast to online participants as well, marking the first time this event has taken place within a hybrid format. We were excited to make this event happen in partnership with the Middleton and Cross Plains School District and with Bunky’s catering, who made a special effort to provide refreshments for attendees.
Changes to Co-op Board Elections
A change to our Annual Meeting schedule also resulted in a shift to the annual board election cycle. Because the Willy Street Co-op bylaws require that “Directors will be elected during a voting period that…includes the Annual Meeting,” the election took place during October as well. Formerly serving Board members saw an extension in their term, as turnover was delayed until election results were announced. We were fortunate to have a competitive election with multiple candidates applying for seats on the board. In addition to the regular three seats that carry a three-year term, this year an additional seat was open. This extra seat with a two-year term was formerly held by Anthony Hernandez, who was appointed by the board to serve as an interim director. Anthony has now been elected to a full three-year term, along with new Board member Jamie Schuberth. Board members Sarah Larson and Gigi Godwin have also been re-elected and will be serving a second term. We are also saying goodbye to departing directors Michael Chronister, Ann Hoyt, and Jeannine Bindl who left the Board this year after several years of service.