Jim Rudolph
Why would you like to serve on the City Market Board? What excites you about becoming a Board member?
As I researched moving to Burlington, visiting City Market was high on my to-do list. I loved being a member of a thriving coop and hoped to find this in Burlington too. I was not only floored by the breadth and depth of the local and organic offerings, but that a co-op could be Burlington’s “City Market”; the central grocery store within a vibrant city. I joined City Market just after receiving my apartment keys. To this day, I simply feel happy parking my bike as I get ready to buy groceries.
With that in mind, City Market is at a major inflection point and I would be honored to represent you. Throughout my professional career at Seventh Generation and Target, I have been charged with making sure the leadership of my companies is in touch with the wishes and needs of the people they serve. I’ve led focus groups, written and analyzed surveys and synthesized findings from the broader competitive landscape to make sure the right outcomes are being pursued and that progress against those outcomes is known. I believe I can be an effective conduit between you and City Market’s leadership to ensure a successful next chapter.
Please describe any professional skills you have that will help you to be an effective Board Member. How would you help the Board to balance the business needs of a $42 million business with the need to meet our Global Ends as a community-owned cooperative?
I have acquired a wide variety of skills that would be beneficial to City Market’s Board of Directors.
These skills include:
Understanding of natural and organic lifestyle trends. Almost every day at work I review the results of reports and studies that explore both the motivations for living a life with more organic and natural offerings but also the physical and perceived barriers that get in the way of embracing more organic options.
Experience Collecting Stakeholder Feedback: I oversaw the execution of Target’s customer satisfaction surveys in stores and online. Results from these studies were used to make continuous improvements. I’ve also written and evaluated satisfaction surveys for staff as well as redesigned and analyzed donor engagement for the philanthropy arm of Minneapolis’s public library system.
Understanding of operational, financial and customer oriented key performance indicators. From holding roles in finance, operations and marketing analysis along with holding an MBA, I feel comfortable evaluating key performance indicators.
Strong context of the retail environment. After working in loyalty and satisfaction research at Target and working closely with Seventh Generation’s sales and category management teams, I am familiar with retail fundamentals and the challenges retailers face across different formats.
Describe your prior involvement with community organizations and/or cooperatives. What did you learn from these experiences?
While I do not have substantial experience as a board member I believe the following experiences have greatly shaped my experiences and interest in running for City Market’s board.
Volunteer consulting for the fundraising department of the Minneapolis Library Foundation:
In writing and evaluating the results from donor engagement surveys, I saw for the first time the deep love and passion that supporters can have for their local community organizations. I also saw with greater understanding that the supporters of organizations have many groups and causes they want to support but time, talents and financial contributions are finite and leading often to tough decisions.
Working for a non profit community hospital system:
As I made business recommendations I needed to balance financial outcomes with impact on the community. This balancing of stakeholders has stuck with me and has served as a compass in my career.
What opportunities and challenges do you see in the future of City Market?
The future is exciting. The future is scary.
City market has long benefited from the building momentum in adopting foods and home products that are local/organic/natural /responsibly sourced and produced. This trend isn’t stopping anytime soon.
However, big players within a few minutes’ drive away (Shaw’s, Hannaford, Price Chopper, Costco, Walmart); or within a few mouse clicks (Whole Foods via Amazon) have realized that the demand for these products is not a small unprofitable niche or unsustainable fad. These retailers are quickly learning how to best merchandise and effectively communicate the benefits of these products historically sold only in co-ops.
City Market’s future success rests on answering the following question:
How does City Market uniquely serve our community now that products once exclusive to cooperatives and natural grocers become more readily available and often on easier or more affordable terms?
We must be clear eyed on the roles we play in the community and know why members vote with their dollars here every day. We must then hold ourselves accountable to continuously improve in these areas.
Click here to view Jim's resume!