This past year has been a busy one! Our cooperative is growing strong—With 292 member-owner households, our growth is projected to have increased by 100 new households from April 2015–April 2016! As we plan for our next stage of development, we wanted to share a snapshot of a few of the things our Co-Op has accomplished in the past year.

• Hiring of a team of member-outreach coordinators, Laurel Mikovits & Carol Ritter
• Successful 2nd Annual Craft Fair last spring, with another planned for 4/30/2016
• Co-op tables at several community events, including the Bethlehem Farmers’ Market, Northampton Community College’s Will Allen lecture, VegFest
• An interview on WDIY’s Take Charge of Your Life program
• A feature on RCN’s Community Spotlight program (Segment 1, Segment 2, Segment 3)
• A core volunteer/consultant training with David Woo from Weaver’s Way Co-Op
• Two representatives at the Consumer Cooperative Management Association conference in Boise, ID
• A full page in Fig Bethlehem magazine
• A new brochure, sponsored by Jumbars, Musselman Jewelers, Wendy Littner Thomson Counseling Services, C.F. Martin & Co., and Ryan Hulvat Photography
• The 3rd Annual Bethlehem Food Co-Op picnic at Monocacy Park
• A standing-room-only film screening and discussion of Queen of the Sun
• Signup events with our new partners: Jumbars, The Apollo Grill, Seasons Olive Oil & Vinegar Taproom, The Bayou, Mitzi’s Table, Social Still, & Red Stag Pub
• The election of a new board and officers in October
• The formation of our Education Committee, leading to the rollout of our inaugural education program, “Understanding Food Choice," in January, with three additional programs coming up this spring
• The kickoff of our workplace Lunch & Learn series at King Spry, Herman, Freund & Faul, LLC
• An audit of our membership database
• Rollout of our member benefits program, which provides discounts to members at local businesses

Our core work is completed by member-owners who dedicate volunteer time and talents towards our mission—THANK YOU!
If you would like to learn how you can help, please email us at [email protected].

So, what next? We still have a lot of work to do! Once our co-op has 300 member-owner households, our board will begin forming a real estate committee. This committee will allow us to begin the lengthy process of researching, evaluating, and eventually securing a site as we work towards our next milestone of finalizing our business plan. As we continue to grow our membership, we are developing metrics for determining milestone triggers for next steps. We will be further refining our member intake & invoicing processes, completing a market study, applying for grants, and organizing a member-loan campaign, all the while continuing to build relationships with local producers and officials, recruiting new members, hosting events and educational offerings, networking with other regional co-ops, expanding our member benefits program, and more. If you’d like to learn more about our progress and plans for development, you are welcome to observe any board meeting. The meetings occur on the 3rd Monday of each month (except this April, it will be 4/25) at 6:30pm. The location is typically Moravian College’s Bahnson Center (60 W. Locust St. Bethlehem), but up-to-date information for a specific meeting can be found on our calendar.

We hope to see you at an upcoming event or meeting soon!

In cooperation,
Colleen Marsh
Board Chair/Communications Committee Co-Chair
Bethlehem Food Co-Op
[email protected]