The Directors would like to give especially warm appreciation to two volunteers who have been invaluable in the past few months: Michael Cole-King and Margo Balfour.

After we ran the Member and Customer Surveys in October and November, we ended up with a pile of information needing to be organised. At the November 2006 AGM, Michael Cole-King offered to do a full statistical analysis of the information – and he did a great job. If anyone would like to see the compiled results of the survey, please visit the "About the Co-op" page on our website. Warm thanks to Michael.

Another onerous job facing management and the Board is transferring The UpFront Club's liquor licence into the name of Maple Street Co-operative. Local accountant Margo Balfour continues to offer her services, looking at all the legislative requirements and provisions that the Co-op has to meet under the Liquor Act in order to transfer this licence. Her help is very useful in navigating all these legalistic details. Many thanks to Margo.

On 19 March, the Directors will be meeting for a full-day Strategic Planning Workshop. We intend to review the organisational objective (or 'ends') we have set up under Policy Governance and formulate concrete plans in alignment with our goals. The information from the surveys will be helpful in this work and we will also be surveying staff for their input prior to the meeting.

Finally, we'd like to offer a hearty welcome to Peter Pamment to the Co-op Board. With the continual expansion of our business and the resulting financial complexity, Peter's expertise in finance, policy governance and organisational skills will be extremely helpful.

[From "Maple Street Co-op News", February/March 2007; published by The Maple Street Co-operative Society Ltd, 37 Maple Street, Maleny, Qld 4552, Australia, tel (07) 5494 2088, email maplest.co-op@serv.net.au, website http://www.maplestreetco-op.com.au]