Subscribe to our mailing list

News & Events

Valley Co-op now building Supplier Teams: New Volunteer Opportunities

Posted on August 9, 2012 by Susan

The Valley Co-op supplier list has now expanded to 36 different farms and businesses and a few more will be signing on soon. Ever since we started doing business, only a handful of folks have been handling the coordination of ALL these suppliers. The Leadership of Valley Co-op has decided that with the ease of our new online system and the growing workload it is now time to shift to another model of team management of suppliers.

This means that each supplier will be matched to a team of Valley Coop volunteers who will facilitate all aspects of getting that supplier’s products sold through the Co-op.

Many of our suppliers are independent, doing their own VCShop input and only need a team of 2 people to act as contacts; calls to those would be minimal.

Suppliers with more diverse needs will require larger teams to spread out the responsibilities of ordering, entering and managing products in VCShop, checking inventory, and coordinating deliveries. Susan Simonson and Jen Keller will train volunteers to use VCShop, and provide technical assistance.

Teams for larger suppliers (e.g. Frankferd Farm, Trickling Springs, Frontier) may hold their own meetings, communicate and coordinate by email, or do whatever works best for the team to ensure that products are ordered and delivered. The team will not necessarily be responsible for dividing bulk orders, as that can be handled by other volunteers. One or two people will need to identify themselves as their team’s main contact.

The table below describes our assessment of the needs of individual suppliers. Find your favorite supplier to see how you can support our carrying their products.

Please consider signing on a supplier team. Teamwork and responsibilities start today! Many members are needed. You may sign on for more than one team; some suppliers require little to no effort. If you would like to know more about what it takes work on a specific supplier team, or to sign up, feel free to contact Susan Simonson (crickhollowmd@gmail.com 301/745-6284) or Jen Keller (jenik32@gmail.com).

If enough people do not sign up to volunteer, we will begin calling members to solicit help. Working from home on a supplier team from home, online or otherwise, counts towards volunteer hours.

Valley Co-op Supplier Teams/Contacts

Supplier Teams	Responsibilites	Suggested minimum # of team members	Current Team Members
A Little of Everything	Contact only; periodic updates and calls	1	Jessica Renner
Black Hill Farm	Contact only; periodic updates and calls	1-2
Blue Faerie Farm	Contact only; periodic updates and calls	1-2	Susan S/Jen K
Blue Mountain Farm	Contact only; periodic updates and calls	1-2	Carol Niedzalek
Burkholder’s Baked Goods	Call supplier & update products in VCSHOP monthly Fax order Mon when VCShop closes Coordinate pickup	5	Marion Bastide Rachael Rhineholt Cindi Neugebauer
Cedar Ridge Soaps	Contact only; periodic updates and calls	1-2	Rachael Rinebolt
Cookie & Crumb Bake Shoppe	Contact only; periodic updates and calls	1-2	Sandy Shields
Cool Brook Farm	Contact only; periodic updates and calls	1-2
Equal Exchange	Place email order based on inventory, quarterly or more Update Products and inventory in VCSHOP Coordinate shipment to private location Coordinate delivery of order to GBC	4	Dave Hadley – ordering Janeen Solberg _________________
F&D Apiaries	Contact only; periodic updates and calls	1-2
Frankferd Farms	Take requests from members Place monthly order based on inventory Update Products and inventory in VCSHOP Coordinate delivery to GBC on designated Tuesdays Ensure volunteers are available to receive delivery. Provide order and price list for sorting jobs	8+	Stephanie Kline – orderingDreama Brown _________________ _________________ _________________ _________________ _________________ _________________
Friedman Family Fisheries	Update Products and inventory in VCSHOP after consulting Avi; monthly Coordinate pickup and delivery west of Baltimore	4	Jen Frias Kyle Powderly
Frog Eye Blueberry Farm	Contact only; periodic updates and calls; Seasonal	1-2	Jennifer Mills
Frontier Natural Co-op	Place email order based on inventory; quarterly or more Update Products and inventory in VCSHOP Coordinate shipment to private location Coordinate delivery of order to GBC	4+	Dannie Smith Pirjo Mix Jessica Renner (?) _________________ _________________ _________________
Good Gracious Gardens, at Dunrovin Farm	Contact only; periodic updates and calls	1-2	Lena R Traci Garland
Grandma Whimsy’s Cupboard	Contact only; periodic updates and calls	1-2
Green Bamboo	Contact only; periodic updates and calls	1-2	Lena R
Harmony Gardens	Contact only; periodic updates and calls; seasonal	1-2	Susan S
Legacy Manor	Contact only; periodic updates and calls	1-2	Susan S\Kathy Powderly
Litton’s Produce & Berries	Contact only; periodic updates and calls	1-2
Mulberry Farm	Contact only; periodic updates and calls	1-2
Odonata candles, LLC	Contact only; periodic updates and calls	1-2	Susan S/Jen K
Palmyra Farm	Contact only; periodic updates and calls	1-2	Traci Garland
S&S Maple Syrup	Place order via telephone based on inventory, quarterly Update Products and inventory in VCSHOP Coordinate pickup and delivery to GBC	3	Sara Anderson Susan S
Slice of Heaven	Contact only; periodic updates and calls	1-2
Small Valley Milling	Place order via telephone based on inventory, quarterly Update Products and inventory in VCSHOP Coordinate pickup and delivery to GBC	3+	Pirjo Mix _________________ _________________
South Mtn Coffee Roasters	Contact only; periodic updates and calls	1-2	Cliff Lane
Spirit of the Lotus Tea Company, LLC	Contact only; periodic updates and calls	1-2	Susan S/Jen K
Spriggs Delight Farm	Contact only; periodic updates and calls	1-2	Carol Niedzalek
Terressentials	Place internet order online at close of VCShop order cycle. Offered every other order cycle, but orders are infrequent Update VCShop as appropriate with product/price changes.	3	Christina Purks
Trickling Springs Creamery	Place order by Tuesday 3 pm based on online member orders using TSC Excel order sheets. Update VCSHOP of product changes, seasonal items and specials each order cycle Ensure yogurt is ordered by Tuesday the week BEFORE the milk order Coordinate with volunteer coordinator to ensure volunteers will receive delivery. Confirm corrections to invoice are made and received Handle complaints or issues with TSC customer service.	10+	Susan Simonson Jen Keller Cliff Lane Sara Anderson _________________ _________________ _________________ _________________ _________________ _________________
Waltz Family Farm	Contact only; periodic updates and calls	1-2	Cliff L
Windmill Meadows Farm	Update Products and inventory in VCSHOP after consulting the Horsts Fax order to WMM at close of VCSHOP order cycle. Ensure delivery to GBC will be made Followup on payments	4	Jen Frias _________________ _________________ _________________

Posted in Volunteering | Comments Off

Comments are closed.

News & Events

Valley Co-op now building Supplier Teams: New Volunteer Opportunities

Search

Latest News

Categories

Archives

Valley Co-op Stats

MEMBERS

ORDERS

SALES