Owner's Portal
Thanks to of our Owners who are helping make the vision a reality!Owner News
Owners
Gift Cards Are Changing
For many years, Chatham Marketplace has utilized a gift card program provided by National Co-op Grocers (NCG). NCG has administered a “shared value” gift card program for it's members through one of their payment processing partners, FIS. Like many co-ops that use...
Current Co-op Board
The Chatham Marketplace Board of Directors is elected by the co-op ownership. The Board establishes guiding policies and hires a General Manager. The General Manager operates the business and is held accountable by the Board.
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About Policy Governance
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:
- Governance is a function of ownership, not management;
- Boards are the highest authority under owners;
- Boards operate by consensus and speak with one voice;
- Boards are accountable to owners for everything within the organization;
- 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
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Owner FAQs
Ownership is what you make it
Many owners just want to support a locally owned, community oriented business by paying their $100 equity share and shopping the store. We’re all busy – we get it. We’re happy to have you! The power of the co-op model however is that all owners have equal access to help drive the vision for our store.
How can I participate beyond just shopping?
A great place to start is to come to a board meeting. They occur monthly and you can find information towards the top of this page on how to attend. From there you might decide to join a board committee or perhaps even run for the board in the future.
What is a patronage dividend?
Patronage dividends are assesed yearly by the General Manager and the Board of Directors. Essentially, when the co-op is profitable, we share that profitability with our owners. Every year, usually in May, we report to our owners on the financial health of the co-op for the previous year. If you’d like to learn more about this, keep an eye out for an invitation to the next annual meeting.
Should I use my owner number even when I'm not getting a discount?
Yes! For two reasons – when the co-op decides to pay a patronage dividend, it is distributed based on how much you use the store. An owner that spends $5 does not receive the same amount as an owner that spends $5,000.
Also, when you use your number, you are considered active. We track how many active owners we have closely and this information is reported to our board of directors. Lots of active owners means a healthy ownership.
Where can I view the policy register?
View our Chatham Marketplace Policy Register here.
Where can I view the Articles of Incorporation?
Right here.
Where can I view the board's by-laws?
You can view the current by-laws here. By-laws are the responsibility of the board of directors and our by-laws were most recently amended January 2022.