Towards a Bigger and Better Future
by Alan Harrington

Your manager has just returned from a couple of weeks away and is feeling quite refreshed after many months of intense activity, particularly with the renovations to The UpFront Club.

It has been another successful year financially for the Co-op and I am looking forward to the changes that are to come. The long-awaited Co-op renovations plans are before Caloundra City Council, with only a couple of "technical" issues to be resolved. These relate mainly to engineering, carpark and stormwater matters.

It has been a more difficult year financially for The UpFront Club (particularly as it was closed for six weeks) but, now that the renovations are completed and the Club is "capitalised" appropriately, I am confident that we will go on to bigger and better things.

I think members will agree that The UpFront Club renovations are a great success. There has been significant improvement in sales and, while this is great, we are all working to continue to improve all aspects of the Club's operations. Don't forget that members can organise their own special theme night each month; please contact Club operations manager Kelly Robson for details. Already we have had the very successful Curramore Guild of Master Sausage Makers night [click here], and there is the upcoming Scorpios Reclaim Pluto theme on Saturday 11 November [click here].

A number of other changes have occurred in recent times. The Co-op welcomes a bevy of new packers to ensure that all that has to be packed is packed. The new co-oppers are Madeleine O'Connell, Rose Parker and Dominique Waites, all of whom are keen to serve at the counter, so please welcome them. Gay Liddington has joined the Co-op team to carry out all that nitty-gritty financial work such as paying the wages and creditors and entering everything into the computer system and reconciling it [click here]. This will allow your manager to concentrate a lot more on Club activities and do a bit of planning.

Your Directors have signed off on a new management structure for Maple Street Co-operative. With this restructuring, they have approved a brand new, modern job description as well as the "first ever" written contract for the Co-op manager. Both documents incorporate the principles inherent in the Co-op's governance policies.

Maple Street Co-op has now been connected to broadband, so it should be easier to phone through to us. Also, the Co-op has signed on to the Wireless Intranet system and members can now sit at The UpFront Club all day and, within reason, treat it as their rent-free office [click here]!

Members, please look out for the director-initiated survey forms. There is one for the Co-op and one for the Club. These surveys are designed to find out what you, the members, want of your co-operative, so please take a little time to fill them out.

The detailed audited financial statements and other formal notices to do with the 28 November AGM will be provided separately in October when finalised.

In the meantime, I would like to thank all who have contributed to the success of Co-op operations during the last year: all the dedicated, ever-friendly and knowledgeable staff (past and present), both at the Co-op and the Club; newsletter editor Ruth Parnell; Club operations manager Kelly Robson for her extraordinary efforts in ensuring the Club renovations were successful; the directors, along with secretary Mary Meadows, for their wonderful support and in particular for their significant efforts in establishing a viable, innovative governance policy that can be used as a model for other organisations; the Co-op's packers, who ensure that the shelves are full; the permanent volunteers at the Club; and, last but not least, the members whose support is essential to ensure our Co-op's sustainability.

[From "Maple Street Co-op News", October/November 2006; 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]