We are pleased to share the appointment of Jackie Kittrell to seat 7 of the Board of Directors, which became vacant with the passing of Helen de Haven last summer. Jackie is the Executive Director of the Community Mediation Center (CMC), a nonprofit that provides mediation services to our community in Knox and surrounding counties, regardless of ability to pay, and with a focus on vulnerable populations in need of mediation services and training services. She is also a licensed TN attorney, practicing employment law, civil rights law, and family law for over 35 years.

Jackie recently attended Cooperative Board Leadership 101 along with newly elected Directors Alhen Drillich and Adam Hughes. This training, a benefit of Board service, is provided by Columinate, a consulting cooperative serving mission-driven organizations. Here are some reflections on this learning experience: 

Alhen Drillich: “In my recent … Read More »

With the calendar year winding down, the Three Rivers Market Board spent its December meeting planning which committees would be chartered to achieve all the work planned for 2024, and the Board is asking for member participation on these committees. If you have an interest in serving on one of the committees, please click the link at the bottom of this post and complete a short questionnaire indicating your interest prior to the deadline of January 10th.

To go with the New Year and new committees, the Board is also welcoming two new members who recently won election to the board: Adam Hughes and Alhen Drillich.

Get to know our new Board members, Adam and Alhen:

ADAM HUGHES

As a community organizer, Adam Hughes brings a wealth of experience in building coalitions to the TRM board. Much of Adam’s work has been in East … Read More »

Governance Updates 

Our 2023 Election concluded on Saturday, December 2nd. We are pleased to announce the election of Alhen Drillich, Adam Hughes, and Kimberly Lomonaco. 17.1% of 3788 eligible electors voted in the election.

We are actively seeking to appoint a former employee who is eligible for Board service to complete the remainder of a term ending in December 2024, which became vacant by the passing of Secretary/Treasurer Helen de Haven last summer. Another seat recently became vacant with the resignation of Erin O’Tool. Those interested in being considered for appointment to these vacant seats can fill out this application, and the Board welcomes recommendations for members to appoint via email at board@threeriversmarket.coop.

In early 2024, new Directors will complete a training program that will familiarize them with the history of cooperatives, policy governance, understanding financial reports, among other topics that will … Read More »

Annual Report and Annual Meeting Recap

On Saturday, December 2nd, we held our Annual Meeting to share information about the financial condition of Three Rivers Market for Fiscal Year 2022-2023, which ran from July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2023. This message contains a summary of our presentation as well as our Annual Report, which can be found here.

We saw positive sales growth this past fiscal year, along with low debt (with 0.5 debt to equity); a high current ratio (2.6), meaning Three Rivers Market is able to pay off short-term liability satisfactorily; and a high quick ratio (2.1), which means our co-op has short-term paying ability without needing to sell inventory.

Each year the Board has the responsibility to decide whether to issue a patronage dividend after careful consideration of the cooperative’s financial condition. A patronage dividend is an allocation to … Read More »

At our November Board meeting, we welcomed many members who came to speak during our Member Forum and to observe our proceedings. We appreciate members’ participation in governance, which is crucial for our cooperative model to function as intended.  

Several questions raised by speakers at the forum center on suspicion of new leadership flouting product standards, enacting unethical measures to increase profit, and disregarding loss of institutional knowledge. These seem to stem from a particular view of the General Manager, which we believe does not fairly reflect his actual performance.

Public accounts of mishandling of a mis-delivered pallet to Three Rivers Market this summer have been thoroughly evaluated by the Board, including follow-up with the vendor in question, and accounts from both current and former employees. No wrongdoing has been discovered. The procedures being implemented at Three Rivers Market have been reviewed … Read More »