Co-Op Developer Pilot Project Description

The objective of the co-op developer pilot project is to determine whether or not a permanent co-op developer position at Ebytown Food Co-Operative should be developed.

The pilot project will run for six months. During this time, Ebytown Food Co-operative members will be encouraged to contact the board of directors in order to pass on their opinions and feedback regarding the co-op developer position. Members will be contacted by co-co's in order to conduct a more formal member assessment of the position. After two months and again after four months, the board of directors and the co-op developer will meet to evaluate the effectiveness of the pilot project based on the criteria agreed upon at the Ebytown Food Co-Op general meeting in October.

There are three main objectives for hiring a co-op developer at Ebytown Food Co-op:

• To provide more consistency of store open hours and increase both member and non-member sales.
• To co-ordinate and facilitate a higher level of member involvement in the Co-op, including increasing the umber of active members and recruiting new members.
• To co-ordinate the day-to-day activities of the Co-op.

Job Description of the Co-op Developer for the duration of the Pilot Project

The Co-op Developer will ensure consistency of store hours

• The co-op developer will be in the store for 10-20 hours per week and will spend 6-12 hours working out of the store per week.
• The co-op developer will be able to ring in sales as needed during gaps where storekeepers are not signed up.

The Co-op developer will co-ordinate and facilitate member involvement in the co-op

• The co-op developer will conduct orientation sessions on a weekly basis as needed.
• The co-op developer will work with the Board of Directors and the membership to promote the co-op to the larger community.
• The co-op developer will meet with the board of directors monthly and will meet with a board member weekly for a minimum of 30 minutes.

The following duties may be included in the co-op developer's duties as part of co-ordinating and facilitating member involvement, depending on the strengths of the developer:

• The co-op developer may work with the Board of Directors to conduct research and gather ideas on how to increase member involvement in the co-op.
• The co-op developer may work with the Board of Directors and the membership to organize social events.
• The co-op developer may share information of interest to co-op members with the membership (i.e., promoting conferences, job opportunities, and events to the membership).

The Co-op Developer will co-ordinate the day-to-day activities of the co-op

• The co-op developer will arrange for members to carry out tasks related to store upkeep. Specifically, the developer will aid storekeepers in identifying priority tasks to be accomplished.
• The co-op developer will complete some administrative tasks. The tasks could include: posting of weekly hours, changing of weekly phone messages, sorting mail, maintaining bulletin boards, photocopying, etc.

The Co-op Developer will contribute to long-term planning for Ebytown

• The co-op developer will work with the board to develop a business plan for Ebytown.

The option also exists for volunteers to also assist or take the lead in any of these activities (as the opportunity currently exists) in addition to or instead of the Co-op Developer.

It will be necessary to develop a list of selection criteria including the necessary characteristics of the co-op developer as part of a more formal job description.

Pilot Project Evaluation Criteria

It will be necessary for the Board of Directors to start the pilot project with some basic data to be used later for comparison of store success before, during, and at the end of the pilot project. This data could include: average number of new members per month in the last year, average amount of sales per month, average number of storekeeper shifts being filled, level of member involvement in co-op, etc.

Financial

• Did sales increase?
• Did new members sign up?
• Is the position feasible within the co-op budget?
• Was it financially possible to maintain an adequate level of inventory?

Member Involvement

• Did member involvement increase?
• Did member involvement decrease?

Store Appearance

• Did store appearance improve?

Community Outreach

• Were events co-ordinated?
• How many new members joined?
• Has there been any other evidence of community interest in Ebytown?

Member Satisfaction

• Have there been social events?
• Has the developer shared info of interest to Ebytown members with members?
• Has member feedback been positive?

Job Description

• What changes need to be made?