by Ashwini Rao, Board Vice President
Earlier this year, the Co-op Board and management embarked on a strategic planning process.
At two strategic planning retreats, Board members mapped the competitive landscape, looked at national trends among cooperative grocery outlets, and compared what makes us different from our competitors. We performed a strategic audit of our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. From there, we developed six possible goals. We then collected feedback from Owners, via surveys and listening sessions, on these goals so that we could narrow it down to three:
- Ensure the future success of Willy North,
- Become an employer of choice in Dane County, and
- Empower our Owners and shoppers on their wellness journey.
Arriving at these strategic priorities was quite the process, but our work is not done. In fact, one can make the argument that the real work begins now. This past year, we worked on DEI programs and on deepening our commitment to local vendors and community stakeholders. Our DEI workgroups—which were established in 2021—are focused on improving diversity, equity, and inclusion for vendors, staff members, Owners, and our community. As we look to the future, we will expand and deepen our commitment through continued policy revision and review, strengthening our relationships within the community, and finding more ways to remove barriers for customers and vendors so our neighborhoods can thrive.
We have some great ideas and programs planned for the next few years and I’m looking forward to assisting the Board and Co-op management in bringing some of these ideas to fruition.