Unfortunately, we were unable to successfully raise the funds needed to afford the down payment and other immediate costs for the Bishop Blvd. location over the past few months. So we will be moving on and considering alternative sites as we determine our next steps.
The PGFC has come a long way since we first started in 2018, and even further since the COVID pandemic put the co-op into a holding pattern. In the past 18 months, we've been able to fill all our Board of Directors seats; establish relationships with the local USDA office that will benefit us greatly in the future; and get a better grasp at the timeline, activities, and roles required to ultimately open the store in the future.
And we couldn't have done those without all the great support from the Pullman community, This includes our Board members of the past, our donors/investors that believe in the importance of a food co-op in Pullman, our volunteers who show up for activities like our stream clean-ups, and all the member/owners who've showed up at our Open House events and asked us the really important questions. We need you all, and we thank you all, and we ask you to stick with us!
In the coming weeks/months/years, we re-commit the Board to continued transparency and open communication with the Pullman community, so that you can understand what we're doing and why we're doing it. And we welcome you to continue asking us questions and challenging us to ensure we're doing what's best toward ultimately opening the doors to a food co-op in Pullman.
Thank you to those of you who donated and invested into the Pullman Good Food Co-op, and please know that your money will still be invested in the future of the co-op!
In the meantime, we continue our support of the Pullman Farmers Market, which will continue its monthly summer run in the Village Centre Cinemas Pullman parking lot from 4-7 p.m. on July 17, Aug. 21 and Sept. 18. We encourage the entire Pullman community to come out and support the market and its vendors, and PGFC will have a table available at all three dates to answer co-op related questions.
FINANCES
Have you donated/invested money into the Pullman Good Food Co-op? Your money is safe, sitting in our local bank account, and will be used once we have found an alternate location for the store. Your investment into the PGFC remains, and we are incredibly grateful for your active support of our co-op.
If you need additional information, send an email to hello@pullmangoodfoodcoop.com, and we’ll get back to you!
HERE’S WHAT THE PGFC BOARD OF DIRECTORS IS DOING NEXT!
We’re reactivating and rebuilding the Location Committee, to start working to identify a new location for the food co-op
We’re continuing to work with prospective donors and investors to help finance the purchase of a property that we can call home
We’re continuing to build the base of member/owners, with a goal of having 1,500 members by the time we open our doors
We’re continuing to work with our grants writer to identify and apply for grants that may help finance the store
If you have suggestions of things the Board should consider doing, please send them to hello@pullmangoodfoodcoop.com!
HERE’S WHAT YOU CAN DO TO SUPPORT THE PGFC IN THE COMING MONTHS/YEARS!
Email us at hello@pullmanfgoodfoodcoop.com if you’d like to join one of our committees (e.g., Location, Design) or the Board of Directors to help lead the way to opening a food co-op in Pullman
Continue encouraging your friends/family to become PGFC member/owners. They can sign up or find more information at https://www.pullmangoodfoodcoop.com/membership
Consider donating/investing into PGFC, so that we can continue raising the funds to purchase a location for a store in Pullman. You can find more information at https://www.pullmangoodfoodcoop.com/capital-campaign
If you have suggestions of things we should do or people we should reach out to, please send them to hello@pullmangoodfoodcoop.com, and we’ll get back to you!
HOW LONG UNTIL THE CO-OP FINDS/ANNOUNCES A NEW LOCATION?
We have no idea.
It took us about 6 years to find the Bishop Blvd. location, and in that time, we surveyed more than 25 different locations in Pullman, and assessed them using 8 different requirements:
Adequate space to reach full potential
Sufficient off-street parking designated for co-op, with 45-60 spaces
Good visibility from the street
Ingress/egress allows for safe car and foot traffic
Allowance for food delivery trucks access to unload
Public transportation
Ability to walk/bike to the co-op
Reasonably centrally located
So we’ll be continuing the task of finding a new location for the food co-op, assessing the merits of leasing a property vs. purchasing one, and we welcome the help and participation from the Pullman community. If you have any suggestions or want to jump in and help, email us at hello@pullmangoodfoodcoop.com!
Yours in co-operation,
Andy Jacobs, PGFC Board Chair/Treasurer
Rick Edge
Nick Garner
Robin Kania
AlyssaMarie Link
Matt Smylie, Secretary
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