What skills and qualities do you have that uniquely qualify you for the Board of Directors, and why do you want to run for the Board?
I have over 40 years of management experience, including 20 as a C-level executive, in a number of technology and manufacturing companies. I also have extensive Board experience, both as a Board member of a number of nonprofit entities as well as a Senior Executive accountable to Corporate Boards of Directors. I also have strong experience in the development and implementation of Strategic Plans, a key role of any Board. I have a passion around building and sustaining local economies that can thrive around common community standards, and have a special interest in the development and support of farms and farmers, as they bring unique contributions to both the community at large and the local food chain in particular. The Co-op is a unique opportunity to match the people who eat with the people who feed them in ways that foster community health and a robust local economy and provide a sustainable, responsible food chain for all to enjoy.
Choose one of the five goals of the Co-op strategic plan and briefly talk about what interests you, and what you could contribute to its development.
Strong Local Food Systems. This is an area where I have both passion and expertise. I believe that building strong supply chains that link local producers with distribution and sales outlets creates a self-sustaining ecosystem that allows producers to succeed financially and provides consumers access to local, sustainable healthy foods. The recent threats posed by outside influences (tariffs, immigration policy, SNAP restrictions, etc.) highlight the criticality of having a healthy, vibrant, locally driven food chain that is resistant to those uncontrollable influences and reflective of the values of the local community. Connecting farmers and consumers directly shields our community from the whims of others whose values differ from ours and allows us to build a strong local food economy that provides employment, opportunity and access for those in the Whatcom County area.
Think about a situation that demonstrates your ability to create a climate that values cultural diversity. How would you encourage sharing different perspectives?
I have led the establishment and operation of the Rocket Software RIDE (Rocket Inclusion, Diversity & Equity) program since 2020. Rocket is a company whose values are Empathy, Humanity, Trust and Love and since we operate on a global basis it is critically important to understand and embrace cultural, religious and gender differences while aligning our entire 3500-person team to a common set of goals. I believe a key element to adoption and alignment on culture is the notion of “if you want to be accepted, you have to be accepting.” Too often in our society we deem others whose viewpoints differ from ours as an enemy rather than someone with a different perspective, value set or life experience, yet we demand that they accept our viewpoint as valid and bristle at the notion of being hated or dismissed because of our differing view. I believe that if you want someone to respect your view, you have to be willing to accept theirs, and I have been very successful at changing the tone on this at Rocket through the “if you want acceptance you have to be accepting” mantra and I believe it has been critical to the success of our RIDE initiative.
What do you believe are the Co-op’s greatest strengths?
Locally owned and operated — Local producers, local consumers, local Community standards, local operators.
Quality — What you get at the Co-op is so much better than what you get from national chains.
Connection — The Co-op is an integral part of the local community, and producers and consumers feel deep personal connections to its success.
Accessibility — The Co-op is welcoming and accessible to residents from all walks of life, culture and economic strata. You cannot say this about Whole Foods.
Service — The staff at the Co-op act as owners and shepherds, not employees. They believe in the Co-op mission and the result is a much more genuine and rewarding customer experience.
Describe any experience you have in reading and understanding financial statements.
I have over 30 years of direct managerial experience, managing department budgets of more than $50 million and have served as a C-level executive for 20 years in companies with $1.5 billion in revenues and $500 million in expenses. I am therefore very familiar with complex financial statements and operational reporting on revenues, expenses, margins, EBITDA, cash flow and the like. This is perhaps the strongest competency I would bring to the Co-op Board of Directors.
Describe the experience, skills or knowledge you have working with any or all of the following: cooperatives, policy governance, consensus process, nonprofit or for-profit boards, a group that used active member participation to achieve its goals.
I have worked with or on Corporate Boards of Directors for over 20 years and have served on the boards of several nonprofits, including my current role as a Board member at Sun House, a Bellingham-based transitional housing assistance program. I was also the Chairman of the Town Finance Committee for the Town of Medway, MA for 3 years. All of these roles required strong elements of consensus-based agreement and decision-making, and I believe that consensus is a critical element of good Strategic Planning, especially in a community-based organization like the Co-op, where community constituents have widely varying perspectives that require and deserve a voice in decision-making and policy development.
Describe your connections with the community, including volunteer work if applicable.
I have lived part-time in Bellingham since 2020 and will retire here full-time in the coming year. I am a Board member of Sun House, a local transitional housing initiative helping re-integrate people with substance and/or mental health challenges into the community, beginning with stable housing. I am a regular and enthusiastic patron of the Bellingham Farmer’s Market, where I spend way more than I should to get great food and support local producers.
Describe any business or entrepreneurial experience you have.
As noted above, I have over 40 years of professional experience, including 20 years as a C-level executive, in industries including software, robotics, computer manufacturing, environmental consulting and plastics manufacturing. I have worked in public, employee-owned and private-equity backed companies.