Co-op Wins Business of the Year

Maybe you’ve heard, maybe you haven’t? So, in case you missed it, the Co-op was recently named Mount Vernon Chamber of Commerce’s 2021 Business of the Year! This award has us feeling all kinds of feelings: proud, humbled, honored, grateful. Or, as Tony would say: tickled.

During a video awards ceremony played for Mount Vernon Chamber of Commerce Members on January 26th, Chamber President Andy Mayer candidly announced the award: “I am not going to make you guess who our Business of the Year is by dangling some clues, because you would figure it out immediately. Our 2021 so very deserving Business of the Year is the Skagit Valley Food Co-op!”

Mayer continued by explaining that while the Co-op hasn’t been immune to the challenges businesses have faced over the last two years, it has continued to be the anchor for

downtown business, with values and principles that go beyond the bottom line. He also shared that the Co-op’s role in the community shouldn’t come as a surprise because we have been building on the straightforward promise of serving our members, the Valley, and surrounding areas by providing good food at a good price, for nearly 50 years.

“That longevity, special character, and diverse offerings are known far and wide. I can’t tell you how often when I meet people from around the State and beyond, they tell me, ‘Oh, Mount Vernon? I love your food co-op!’”

General Manager Tony White accepted the award on behalf of the Co-op and pointed to our proactive approach toward minimizing the risks of COVID-19 transmission in the store, as well as prioritizing our employee stakeholder group as the key for continued success and resiliency. “I would say that the mask policy was likely the policy local businesses most appreciated us for,” White said. “Local businesses followed suit and often said to their own customers that they were following the co-op’s lead.”

The Co-op was also one of the first businesses in the area to provide staff with bonuses for being front-line workers, along with a premium hero pay wage. As the pandemic continued, and the hero pay ended, the Co-op rolled out a new livable wage model and paid bonuses and profit sharing during 2021.

In closing, Tony praised employees for how they interacted with members and shoppers in such a turbulent time, “2021 required resiliency, fortitude, and compassion, and I believe our staff delivered this consistently day in and day out.”

I agree whole-heartedly.

Recognized by the Mount Vernon business community, this award speaks volumes about the Co-op and how special it truly is. And not all awards are equal: I once worked for a business that made the list of Best Places to Work in Washington, according to Seattle Business Magazine, an impressive accolade and smart recruiting tool. The workplace boasted Nerf guns, a ping-pong table, an open workspace, a radically fun culture, and other work perks.

It wasn’t until after I was hired and assigned to apply for Seattle Business Magazine’s Best Places that I understood the process. Apply? Turns out, we nominated ourselves, and I want to say we even paid an application fee. So, we won. Again. Because we paid to play. As the person in charge of marketing our Best Place status, I wasn’t all that eager to shout it from the rooftops.

“Best Ever” felt performative and disingenuous. I’d compare it to winning a race of one person, and then going about town touting that I was the fastest runner in Skagit Valley. Delusions of grandeur.

None of that is to say that it wasn’t a good place to work (it was), or that I’m not a fast runner (I’m actually not), but the claim of Best Place or Fastest Runner is simply illegitimate, and undeserved. Plus, if you’ve ever been shot by a Nerf gun while trying to concentrate on ways to say your place of work is the best because it has Nerf guns, you’d quit. I did.

Now, I get to share this hard-earned, welldeserved achievement with everyone I know, the community I live and work in, my hometown. And I’m so very proud—of the award, but mostly of us. The achievement is ours to share.

I am proud of the Co-op for what it is, and the cooperative values it stands for. It irks me to think of the corporations that profited during the pandemic because they could, because consumers had no other choice than to drive-thru rather than dine-in, to shop conveniently instead of conscientiously. Instead of raking it in, the Co-op held true to its not-for-profit business model and gave back to the people who rely on it most, right here in Skagit Valley.

I’m grateful for the incredible foundation laid out for us over the last four decades, which has allowed us to weather the most unexpected unknowns. Todd Wood may have retired, in his infamously timely fashion, but his business acumen and vision are a large part of the Co-op’s ongoing success. As is the work of countless others who built the Co-op into a community cornerstone, starting from the ground up.

Beyond that, I am blown away by the dedication of our staff. I am so proud of my co-workers for hanging tough, and it has been tough. The managers coming together to keep things moving forward. The folks on the sales floor and their effort to make the Co-op shopping experience a friendly one. So much wow.

If there were space to give individual shoutouts to every Co-op employee, I would. Because every single person who works here deserves recognition for the work they’ve put in. A cashier smiling at you behind their mask even though the last checkout interaction was disheartening; the friendly response to why a favorite food is still out of stock; a healthy meal on your table at the end of the day—those are achievements. And please tell me you saw the photo of Dale S. snowshoeing to work in December? That’s what we like to call an overachievement, or going the extra mile.

Co-op employees have racked up a lot of extra mileage in the last couple years, but so have you. Many Co-op shoppers go out of their way to shop here, to support us. Your loyalty and patience are yet another reason we can call ourselves Business of the Year.

So, thank you, for being a community that continues to show up for each other. I am proud to be a small part of it, and even prouder to shout Business of the Year from the rooftops! Because it’s true! After all, it’s owned by the community: a bunch of you’s, and me’s, and we deserve it.

And as we head into the Co-op’s 50th year, I’d say we’re well on our way to Business of the Century.