Joanna Grossman

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Why would you like to serve on the City Market Board? What excites you about becoming a Board member? 

I served on City Market’s board for three years, from 2014 through 2016, and I’ve served on the Seedling Grant Committee since. I work for the Vermont Agency of Agriculture and before that I worked for MyWebGrocer. These environments have cultivated a strong knowledge of, and interest in, Vermont’s food system and grocery industry. This is certainly useful for work on our board, but I speak from experience in telling you that our cooperative principles and bylaws have dedication to sustainable practices baked in. These practices are core to the operations of our co-op and its leadership team regardless of the board. 

The co-op needs board members who are diligent, financially literate, dedicated individuals who show up with a highlighted, dog-eared board packet every time. 

I’d like to re-join the board because I loved doing this. The co-op’s unique ability to be a massive economic engine for our community, while maintaining responsible business practices, is to be cherished. During my final year on the board City Market’s rally for change program alone contributed well over $100K to local organizations. It’s great to think that my nerdy skill set can help this process. 

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 currently work for the Vermont Agency of Agriculture where I’ve had a look under the hood of Vermont’s food system. Specifically, I work in Geographic Information Systems, mapping Vermont’s farm data including everything from saffron to tempeh. I’m proud to help the state shape agricultural policy and make informed, data-driven decisions. 

Prior to the state I worked for MyWebGrocer where I helped grocery stores and brands manage their data and glean insights into its patterns. This work is especially useful in (for?) analyzing trends in the co-op’s many reports to the board. An understanding of data is essential to this board, but being familiar with the food industry itself is also handy for perspective.

My most valuable skill is probably nothing more than the willingness to scrutinize the multitude of financial and legal documents issued to the board for review. A good board member is willing to show up and engage in tough questions on often hard-to-understand issues. 

The co-op has shown us that a profitable business with our Global Ends doesn’t conflict when we make smart hires, stay open-minded to the need to adapt, and work with intention.

Describe your prior involvement with community organizations and/or cooperatives. What did you learn from these experiences?

As I served on the board of City Market 2014 to 2016, the biggest lesson was that organizations need organization. City Market is finely-tuned with exceptional staffing at every level. I’ve served on many boards and observed many more. City Market’s board respects the structure of the institution, and constantly self-evaluates, and that allows us to be highly efficient. I observed firsthand how a highly profitable business can be a force of good.

When my daughter started first grade I joined the board of the Champlain Elementary PTO in the South End. This has taught me how important it is to make sure the needs of all families are met regardless of demographics. At Champlain we strive to make all families feel welcome and have access to a great learning environment. I’m especially proud of our school food program and our teacher grants program.

This year I started on the Steering Committee of Burlington’s Ward 5 NPA. It’s been instructive on what is important to the South End and how diverse (in many senses) we are. 

This work has informed me on how to serve the South End community as well as how to work on a board.

What opportunities and challenges do you see in the future of City Market?

City Market has recently gone from a period of stability to a period of change including leadership change, expansion, and financial adjustments. Any one of these is a shock to the system and organizational change, even when positive, often fuels turnover. Key to City Market’s continued success will be to continue to improve its work environment. Happy staff make happy customers. 

Maintaining profitability will obviously be paramount to keeping the doors open. The co-op was strategic in commissioning market studies to understand the new store’s impact, but there will always be unaccounted variables and the organization has to stay agile.

The co-op excels at communicating with its membership, but it’s now moving into a new community and will need to be adept at making sure it reaches people and accommodates the South End, especially as neighborhood development and the Southern Connector loom large. 

In recent quarters we’ve seen financial performance change slightly. It’s not unprecedented for us to have slowed growth, but many new competitors are entering the scene including the rising popularity of food delivery services and Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods. It’s important to keep our eyes on new research and trends and be adaptable.

Click here to view Joanna's resume!