Hired to Fight the “Good” Fight for Local Businesses in Washtenaw County
by P.D. Lesko
CHRIS GOOD IS a former People’s Food Co-op staff member. He also served as the President of the Co-op’s Board of Directors. In 2013, he brought together 50 businesses and musicians for the “Buy Local” music video project. The Board of Directors of Think Local First (TLF) of Washtenaw County appointed Good as the new executive director, late last week. Good, 35, brings with him to the position clear-eyed optimism.
Good succeeds Jud Branam, whom the Think Local First Board appointed as interim executive director in May 2014, after long-time executive director Ingrid Ault stepped down. Branam said he expects to return to the TLF Board of Directors.
Jud Branam leaves Good an organization with membership numbers which he described as “flat,” but which 990 IRS income tax returns indicate have fallen. Along with fewer members, Think Local First faces shrinking revenues which have meant little left over for programming after the organization’s modest expenses were paid. Some of those programs include buy-local initiatives during holidays such as Buy Local Week, TLF publishes an online and printed resource guide to help buyers Think Local in their purchasing.
The group also recognizes local businesses with an annual Indie Awards program. This year’s Indie Awards will be celebrated with a street party in Ann Arbor on June 27.
That is if Good can lead the organization deeper into the black.
In 2009, TLF took in $62,673 and spent $32,888 on a salary for Ault, who worked 24 hours per week, another $3,222 on professional fees and independent contractors, $2,638 on rent, $1,024 on sending Ault to conferences and another $1,004 on office expenses.
In 2012, TLF took in $49,238 and cut Ault’s salary to $28,000. Since 2006, the organization has carried over net operating loses annually.
Jud Branam says that his 2014 interim management saw the organization’s finances level out. However, one of his management decisions drew sharp criticism.
Branam not only led the organization into partnership with economic development entity Ann Arbor SPARK, a large part of whose operating funds are diverted from the Ann Arbor Public Schools, Think Local First participated in events which were underwritten and sponsored by Whole Foods Market, a business which is not local.
Branam called TLF’s partnerships with Whole Foods “nominal.”
People’s Food Co-op Manager Lesley Perkins was not amused to see Think Local First partnering with Whole Foods.
“I saw the Whole Foods thing and just went, ‘That’s it! No more,’” said Perkins. “I was absolutely shocked.”
Perkins went on to say that the People’s Food Co-op had ended its membership in Think Local First.
Branam and Good both said they were surprised to hear Perkins had decided against renewing the PFC’s membership and planned to contact her about it.
While Branam began a short conversation about his transition back to TLF Board by saying, “Think Local First needs to be somebody’s primary focus,” Chris Good said he was planning to work part-time, as former Exec. Dir. Ingrid Ault had done.
“I plan to stay active in the local music scene,” said Good.
TLC’s press release pointed to Chris Good’s non-profit management experience. That experience was as a worker and Board member at the People’s Food Co-op. Good was president of the PFC Board in 2007 when the Board launched a member-driven referendum to boycott Israeli-made products. The referendum failed.
In 2009, two of the PFC members behind the 2007 boycott Israel referendum ran for the Board unopposed. Good and other Board members then extended the deadline for candidate applications to create a competitive race. The two anti-Israel candidates were defeated.
Chris Good says he does grasp the seriousness of TLF’s financial position.
“That is definitely the challenge,” says Good. “We’ve got to engage the public. I’ll be looking at what the organization has done in past.”
The truth of the matter is that since its inception, IRS tax forms show that Think Local First has spent 75-80 percent of the money it takes in on overhead expenses, and spends a small percentage of the money it collects providing “learning, teaching, resource sharing and community building opportunities for locally-owned independent businesses and increase community awareness.”
Chris Good has his work cut out for him. Additional money spent on marketing could very well have to come from his own salary. In addition, between 2010 and 2012 revenue from programs and services dropped from $10,375 to $1,875. Printing, postage and publication spending plummeted from $14,469 in 2010 to $471 in 2012.
Jud Branam, in speaking about the closure of long-time businesses on Main Street and the impact that might have on the long-term viability of Think Local First, was quick to answer: “I think there’s a lot of local businesses not located on Main Street. It’s a matter of finding those local businesses.”
Branam also said he wants to see “educational opportunities grow” for small business owners, and that’s where Ann Arbor SPARK comes in and questions arise about the impact SPARK’s public-private financing model has had on small, local businesses.
Chris Good says, “I’ve not worked with Ann Arbor SPARK, but your reputation is everything when you’re working with small businesses.”
Lesley Perkins might agree. She describes The People’s Food Co-op’s challenges as a local business competing against Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s, both of which market themselves as “local” food chains. Whole Foods and the People’s Food Co-op both buy from local organic farmers, a niche Think Local First is trying to target.
“Whole Foods….they’re not local,” says Perkins, “we’re local. We were local before ‘local’ was a marketing tool.”
As for Think Local First, this year could well be the organization’s Waterloo. Only time will tell if Chris Good will play the part of Napolean or the Duke of Wellington. Either way, he says, he’s ready for the battle.