GreenStar 2016: Looking Ahead

By 12th Moon, Council President, and

Brandon Kane, General Manager

2016 will be a landmark year for GreenStar, full of exciting developments and expansion into new markets. This year will see the construction of a solar array, the opening of our Collegetown store, expansion of our catering services and education efforts, and more. We’re looking forward to this eventful year in the Co-op’s history.

By the end of this month, our offsite solar array should be up and operational. This partnership with Renovus Solar will involve a 130 kW system consisting of 426 panels, located offsite on a property in West Danby. Because the panels are mounted at ground level, they can be installed for maximum efficiency. The array will produce enough electricity to cover more than 11 percent of our present usage at all GreenStar locations, including the Space and Classrooms. The estimated payback time on this investment is about 10 years, while the lifespan of the system may exceed 30 years. We are hopeful that in the future we can increase the size of the solar array to generate even more of our electricity needs. We currently purchase renewable energy certificates for the power used at our West-End buildings. This system puts GreenStar at the forefront of renewable energy systems utilized by cooperative markets. (See “GreenStar Goes Solar” for more on this exciting development.)

In 2015, we closed on a loan with the Cooperative Fund of New England to finance the majority of our Collegetown store project. Early in 2016, we expect to refinance our warehouse property through the National Cooperative Bank, lowering our monthly payments while freeing up equity needed to fund the remainder of the Collegetown project. Collegetown construction and planning are moving along steadily and on schedule, with a planned opening in mid-August 2016. We’re currently working on the interior design and services. We have held a couple of meetings with residents of Collegetown to help determine the best services and products to offer at our new location, and over the winter and spring we’ll engage further with this population to help finalize the details. An exciting aspect of this new store is the expansion of our FLOWER low-income discount program to students in need, helping to reduce cost as a barrier to students’ accessing healthy foods.

In 2016 we will continue to grow and build the services offered by our Catering and Space Events Department. Our new catering catalog is in the stores and will be a major component of our updated website, expected to be unveiled in early 2016. We are so pleased to see the Space utilized for a wide variety of events. To date we have hosted everything from school dances to record fairs. We’ve truly gone beyond the realm of retail in serving our community.

2016 will see us continue our cooperative education and outreach efforts. Our history program, “Cooperative Enterprise 101,” will be offered at the Classrooms and on Cornell’s campus, giving Co-op member-owners and customers the opportunity to learn about the history of cooperatives in our country. Laura Buttenbaum, our Membership Assistant Manager, compiled and created this project. On Friday, Feb. 5 we’ll host our first Game Night in the Space (see pages 4 or 6 for more info), and on a to-be-determined date over the winter, we will present a screening of the documentary film Food for Change on the Cornell campus. We’re also looking into other relevant films to show at The Space.

In February, GreenStar managers, Council Members, and members of the Staff Advisory Board will hold a retreat to discuss the current business environment and look to strategic planning for the future. These retreats are a great opportunity for the operational and governance representatives to come together to discuss and study issues relevant to GreenStar, our area, and cooperatives on a national level.

Council will continue to review our bylaws and policies over the year, looking for improvements and updates as needed. We’re getting used to receiving Monitoring Reports as part of the changes that came with the adoption of a Policy Governance system of board governance, and have found that the information provided in the reports helps us to see the health of our co-op more clearly.

Prior to the April voting period, we hope to test some online voting tools with the goal of offering our member-owners the option of electronic voting in addition to the traditional paper ballot. This will represent another step into the New Future for GreenStar. Along with our offsite solar array, new Collegetown location, and expanded use of our services to the community through our Catering and Space offerings, we’re embracing positive change throughout the Co-op.

We’re proud to have helped GreenStar develop in all these exciting ways. Penning articles like this reminds us how lucky we truly are. Across our community, organizations are pulling together like never before to address issues such as structural racism, poverty/fair wages, and access to a healthy lifestyle. We’re so happy to play our part wherever we can in the local community, while also being a part of something that is so much larger. Thanks to you, our cooperative member-owners: through your direct support, we’re able to contribute significantly to the health and well-being of our wonderful community.