Over the course of 2015, your Board of Directors hosted a “Meet the Board” (MTB) event at Three Rivers Market every first Thursday of the month in 2015. During those events, you would have found us, your Board Directors, sitting at a table, often with a bit of enticing snacks like chocolate or chips. We have learned something new each time.

At the December 3rd, 2015 MTB event, we were challenged to reflect a bit deeper about the tangible benefits of TRM membership, as well as any special opportunities for co-op involvement. The key thing to remember is that because Three Rivers Market is a customer-owned cooperative, “membership” is, in fact, ownership. With membership, you are purchasing equity in the business, which comes with financial and governance benefits. Our cooperative is democratically governed, which means ownership also offers the opportunity to exercise the responsibility of governance.

For general information on membership, follow this link, and to read about member rights and responsibilities, follow this link.

Here’s an abbreviated list of current TRM member-owner financial and governance benefits:

Financial

Ownership translates into economic benefits for members. You can find a comprehensive list here, but some of the more striking benefits of this kind are:

– Daily member discounts on identified items throughout the store.
– Quarterly Member Discount Days.
– An every-Wednesday 10% discount on Health and Body Care products.
– An anytime 10% discount on case purchases.

Governance

As owners, members have the right and responsibility to vote in annual Board elections and all members can run for a seat on the Board of Directors. If you would like to become involved in co-op governance in other ways, we encourage you to attend monthly board meetings on the second Thursday of every month and to participate in Board Committees. For example, this past term the Board had a Member Linkage Committee and an Elections Committee, both of which were open to member-owners.

If you are not yet a member-owner, consider joining us! Even if your primary interest is financial benefit, by becoming a member-owner you are helping the co-op
build equity, which in turn supports TRM’s values and principles .

~ Graciela Cabana & Nina Gregg, Board Directors