Since 1984, Carolee Colter has consulted for consumer and worker co-ops and other small community-based businesses. Carolee started out working for a co-op warehouse in Michigan in 1973 and has been working in co-ops of one kind or another ever since.

When she moved out to Seattle, she worked for a natural foods retail co-op and then a worker-owned organic produce distributor in the 1970s and 1980s. Using a collaborative problem-solving approach, she helps co-ops to create productive and satisfying workplaces.

Services

Carolee can work with your co-op on:

• Supervision training and team-building for management teams
• Organizational structure and staffing plans for expansions
• Employee surveys for monitoring staff treatment
• Human resource systems audits
• Assisting boards in hiring and compensating co-op management
• Pay scales and pay raise systems
• Co-presenter of “Polish Your Rising Stars,” a three-day leadership seminar designed specifically for department managers of natural food stores. www.risingstarsseminar.com

“The employee survey reporting that you did recently for BriarPatch was the best I’ve seen. The analysis was thorough, methodology was logical and the recommendations were on target with the findings of the survey. Well done!”

Debbie Plass, President, Board of Directors
BriarPatch Community Market, Grass Valley, CA

“I want to take this opportunity to report on the power of your last consulting. The management team has really jelled, are taking accountability issues seriously, raising the bar and becoming quite effective…The management team credits your work with the new outlook.”

Margo O’Brien, General Manager
St. Peter Food Co-op, St. Peter, MN

Articles on this site

• Recession: Maintain Stability with Communication, Standards
  (March-April 2009, Volume 9, Number 2)
• Welcome, Carolee and Mary!
  (March-April 2009, Volume 9, Number 2)

Articles not on this site

Retail Basics—Supervision and Team-building
For sale on CGIN. June 2010

Cooperative Model Grievance Project A Cooperative Board Leadership Development (CBLD) project, Fall 2009

Hiring a General Manager: A Food Co-op Toolbox Manual, published by NCGA, December 2008

Hiring a General Manager. Carolee Colter.Cooperative Grocer.#139. November-December 2008.

Setting a Process for General Manager Compensation, with Mark Goehring, Cooperative Grocer, January-February 2008

Counting on Co-op Employees. Carolee Colter and Mary Courteau.Cooperative Grocer.#141. March-April 2009.

Preparing for Disaster. Carolee Colter.Cooperative Grocer.#128. January-February 2007.

The Cooperative Livable Wage Model, a model for calculating a livable wage for any community in the US. Produced for Cooperative Grocers Information Network, 2003 and updated yearly

How We Built a Cooperative Model for a Livable Wage, Cooperative Grocer, September-October 2006

Home-Grown Talent. Carolee Colter.Cooperative Grocer.#122. January-February 2006.

Manager Compensation: Both satisfaction and inconsistency are evident in the 2006 study of co-op compensation part 1, with Peg Nolan, Cooperative Grocer, May-June 2006

What We Pay. Carolee Colter and Peg Nolan.Cooperative Grocer.#126. September-October 2006.

Improving General Manager Compensation Packages. Carolee Colter.Cooperative Grocer.#119. July-August 2005.

From Corporate to Co-op: GMs from conventional groceries make the transition to co-op with the help of strong board-manager relations, Cooperative Grocer, January-February 2004

It’s Not Really a Co-op. Carolee Colter.Cooperative Grocer.#113. July-August 2004.

Handling Emotional Conflict of Interest Cooperative Grocer, May-June 2007”

Does Merit Pay Really Work?. Carolee Colter.Cooperative Grocer.#107. July-August 2003.

When Depression Becomes a Management Issue, Natural Foods Merchandiser, December 2005

Knowledge is Power in Minimizing Staff Turnover, Natural Foods Merchandiser, March, 2007

Avoiding Post-Expansion Burnout, Cooperative Grocer, January-February 2005

Help shift workers walk a mile in each others’ shoes, Natural Foods Merchandiser, March 2004

Motivational Fit: Hiring the Right Person for the Job, Cooperative Grocer, January-February 2002

Are Co-op Employees More Satisfied? Surveys Say So, Cooperative Grocer, July-August 2002

All Your Folks Need Strokes to Keep the Workplace Productive, Natural Foods Merchandiser, September, 2005

Act Now to Ensure Your Workers’ Safety, Natural Foods Merchandiser, April 2008

A Near Miss at Mississippi Market. Carolee Colter.Cooperative Grocer.#92. January-February 2001.

Making Co-ops A Great Place to Work: Using Policy Governance to Guide and Monitor Staff Relations. Carolee Colter and Marilyn Scholl.Cooperative Gocer.#88. May-June 2000.