All meetings of the Board of Directors are open to the owners of Chatham Marketplace. They are usually held on the second Tuesday of each month from4 to 7 pm in Pittsboro. Please email Board President, Bob Armantrout, for more information.
The Chatham Marketplace Board of Directors uses a framework called Policy Governance to define the role and function of the Board and the General Manager. Policy Governance allows the Board to maintain complete accountability for the Co-op, but, insures that management decisions are left in the hands of the General Manager.
The principles at the core of the Policy Governance system are:
1 - Governance is a function of ownership, not management;
2 - Boards are the highest authority under owners;
3 - Boards operate by consensus and speak with one voice;
4 - Boards are accountable to owners for everything within the organization;
5 - Boards need to empower those to whom they delegate authority while remaining fully accountable for the use of that authority.
Under the Policy Governance framework, the Board has defined Ends Statements, policies outlining our Governance Process, policies outlining the General Manager’s role, and policies defining the relationship between the Board and the General Manager. All owners are encouraged to read and understand our Ends and Policies.
Phil Guida, Interim General Manager
Hello Chatham Marketplace Owners; I’m feeling privileged & honored to have been chosen to follow Mary DeMare in taking the steps in getting our Co-op through to the next level. I’m excited to be back home in North Carolina having spent the last 5 years managing 2 very wonderfully different Co-op’s in Minnesota. Just Food Co-op in Northfield lured me away from my GM position in Hendersonville (Hendersonville Community Co-op 1999-2006) in January 2007. After my work was complete at Just Food I continued my pursuit of bringing my energy & experience to The Rochester Good Food Store in Rochester MN. Both of these stores saw major sales increases as well as ownership growth during my time as their General Manager. From 2006-2008 I also served on the Board of the National Cooperative Grocers Association enabling me to gain first hand BOARD experience that has helped guide me in my relationships with the Boards I have worked with.
My wife & I relocated back to Asheville, November 1 for a variety of reasons mostly based on family. The NCGA managed to find a way for the Chatham Board & me to connect and so we did. I come to Chatham Marketplace with 28 years of Co-op knowledge, and experiences that I hope to put to work here in Pittsboro. Remember it takes all of us to make this work and I will be calling on you for your support. I look forward to meeting you as we work together to bring our Co-op to financial health while continuing to make our community “stronger together.”
Kathy Mohr, Ownership Committee Chair
Kathy became a member of the board in 2008. She moved to NC in 1967 from western Pennsylvania and acquired land in Chatham County. She is an avidorganic gardener and has enjoyed traveling to China and observing intensive gardening and agriculture in that country. Kathy retired from UNC-CH after along career in scientific research. She grew up on a farm and has an appreciation for supporting local agriculture and the availability of locally produced food. Support of the local economy through Chatham Marketplace is an important commitment to her.
Tom Morris, Secretary, Finance Committee
Tom is a graduate of UNC Chapel Hill, and also has an MPA from NC State. Tom works as an IT Security Analyst. He’s lived in the Triangle area since 1978,moving to Pittsboro in 2002 with his wife and their pets. What excites Tom about Chatham Marketplace is how our co-op strengthens the local economy and serves as a community gathering place.
Brian Peat, Treasurer, Finance Committee
Brian moved from his home state of Connecticut to North Carolina in 2005 and has found a comfortable community and home here in Pittsboro. With a split background in food service and industrial distribution, Brian started at Chatham Marketplace lending his skills to the kitchen and now has found a nice little niche on the Board of Directors to put his business skills in to play. After managing a small cutting tool distributor for ten years and spending the next two opening and growing a new branch in Raleigh, Brian has developed a unique perspective in many aspects of small business and plans to draw on all of his mental resources in his service to the the board, the store and our community.
Bob Armantrout, President
Bob is a Zero Waste advocate, an MBA, an avid organic gardener, and a business policy wonk. He has spent most of his 30 year career in Operations Management, working with diverse organizations from a large global manufacturer of high tech electronics, to a stint as the resident manager and horseback guide at an off the grid jungle lodge in Belize.He and his wife, Camille, became owners of Chatham Marketplace their first full day in town, because they value the kind of food shopping experience small community markets offer. They predominately buy bulk foods (25 pound bags of flour every six weeks for example), as well as a larger number of growlers than they would probably admit to.Bob teaches biofuels, renewable energy, and farm business management at CCCC’sPittsboro campus.
Betsy Kraus, Vice-President, Ownership Committee
Betsy grew up on a small farm in Pennsylvania where they grew most of their own food. 30 years ago she and her husband, Doug, bought their 20 acre wood in Chatham County where they built a house and raised two children. Betsy currently spends her time building an addition to their home, permaculture gardening with her ducks, and learning about the creatures living in our local streams. She enjoys food from local small farms, like the one she grew up on, that she buys at Chatham Marketplace.
Mike Shepherd, Ownership Committee
Mike Shepherd has lived in Pittsboro and the Chatham County for over 20years. The Marketplace is important to him because he feels supporting local farmers and growers makes a strong and healthy community.