From the Board of Directors

The Wedge Board of Directors is happy to report another hugely successful year! As you will see in this report, the Wedge continues to thrive. The co-op maintains an excellent financial position; we have continued to grow both in membership and in sales; we continue our work on the development of meaningful connections with our membership, and we remain committed to programs designed to support all of the communities that work with us including the neighborhood, local charitable organizations, our community of Twin Cities co-ops, and our local growers and producers.

The State of the Co-op

Thanks to your loyal patronage, our combined sales from the store, Wedge Worldwide, and Co-op Partners Warehouse exceeded $39.4 million this year. Although we've started new endeavors over the years to expand beyond the "four walls" of our store (the most recent being the Gardens of Eagan organic farm) the Wedge continues to operate free of any longterm debt, while increasing our cash and other assets. This year's cash patronage rebate will be $789,123 which is over $200,000 more than last year's. This is the portion of Wedge profit that our purchases generated and we all share in. Congratulations!

In fiscal year 2008, our membership increased to 13,691 active members at year end. Our huge membership is evidence of our success in getting the Co-op's message out: natural, healthy food, provided by a member-owned co-op that focuses on sustainability, support for local producers, and support for the community.

On a deeper level, there is much to be satisfied within the Co-op. We continue to serve the community in meaningful and visible ways. The Wedge Board recently approved $50,000 in WedgeShare grants for local non-profit organizations providing services in the areas of organics, education and sustainability. The Wedge remains a leader in support for the Midwest Food Connection, a non-profit organization providing education to school-age children on natural and organic foods.

Inside the store, Wedge staff has continued the co-op's commitment to providing our members with phenomenal customer service and a broad selection of the finest in natural and organic foods, as well as other products to promote healthy living and sustainable environments. The work of our staff in the areas of education, research and member services is unparalleled, and serves as a model for the co-op community as a whole.

Our Membership Connection

The Board is also actively working on enhancing our connection to the membership, and those efforts are coming to fruition. For the first time this year we are able to vote online. We hope it will make this important duty of member/owners easier and encourage more people to be part of the process. Building on the success of last year's surveys and forums, we are implementing a calendar of events for the coming year which will include member and non member interviews, research, more focus groups and surveys. Our focus is to improve our mechanisms for receiving input, with the goal of hearing from a broad base of the membership. We hope to learn more about what members value most about the Wedge, what they like and dislike about their shopping experience, as well as what they'd like to see in the Wedge's future. We'll report what we've learned in future issues of the newsletter, and during next year's annual meeting.

The Board is committed to setting a long-term direction for the Wedge that will closely reflect the needs and values of our membership as a whole. We do this in the context of a rapidly expanding and increasingly competitive natural foods industry. Aligning member desires with our need to continue to innovate and maintain our relevance in this competitive environment is a tremendous but also exciting challenge for the Wedge. We appreciate your support as we continue on this journey.

As always the Board recognizes that all of the success the Wedge enjoys is a direct result of the dedication, creativity and efforts of all of the store's management, staff, and members. Our sincere thanks to all of you.

Lastly, in this difficult economic climate when fear seems to permeate so much of what people are talking about, we must remember that we are not alone. We have each other. That is what a co-op is, all of us banding together to do what we can't do on our own. We are partners in this endeavor, and in this success. Let's celebrate our cooperative community!