Hi, I am George Wheaton, and I would like to be your Board of Directors as a Member at Large for the coming 2 years. I joined the Baker Food Co-Op the third day I was here in Baker City in October 2015. Since then I have been a working member in the following areas: truck crew, stocking, cleaning/janitorial, handyman projects, cashiering, packaging, and, recently, department head and ordering.

I feel we are at a critical time for the Baker Food Co-Op. With the expansion of organic products in the mainline grocery stores, we need to find the niche which will give us a marketing advantage and, thereby, draw in more customers and increase sales. Operations need to be reviewed to determine where costs and waste can be reduced. We need to actively promote what makes us a unique source for obtaining healthy organic and GMO-free foods within the community. Brightening up the building, inside and out, without expending large sums of cash, will, I believe, create new interest in us and draw in more customers. I will explore all sources and solicit all ideas as to how we might achieve these goals, including the pursuit of grants as funding for improvements.

A short list of relevant experiences:

– The Wheaton Group – a management consulting business working with for-profit and not-for-profit businesses to review their current status and determine ways to guarantee that the business would continue to be profitable or, several cases, become profitable so that they would not go out of business.

– Executive Vice President and General Manager of Bars Leaks Western, an automotive aftermarket manufacturing company.

– Served on the Board of Directors, and as an officer, of other not-for-profit organizations, including, presently, the Bhutan Cultural Exchange.

– Many years of supervisory experience in organizations ranging from the Veterans Administration to small marketing companies.

– Taught in private and public schools, grades 5 through 12.

Education:

– Master of Science in Business Administration, with an emphasis upon personnel management and marketing, from Indiana University NW.

– Bachelors degree and education training from Michigan State University.