2026 Board of Directors Election Information
Meet the candidates running for the Belfast Community Co-op Board of Directors. We have seven candidates this year: Mary Bigelow, Susan Cutting, Richard Dines, Steve Gold, Rio Greeley, John Kruger, and James Shimko. Read their statements about why they are running for a Board seat.
Voting for the 2026 Board candidates begins Sunday, March 8nd, 2026 at the end of the Annual Meeting.
If you have any questions, please email board@belfast.coop.
Mary Bigelow
As a candidate for the board of the Belfast Community Co-op I am asking for your vote.
I have benefited for 25 years from the coop’s central place in the community and it is time to give back. At this stage in my life, I have both the time and energy to devote to the co-op’s board.
My work experience was on the whole technical, and was first focused on the management of municipal waste water. Later, I worked as a technician in the engineering school at Dartmouth College. In both cases, teamwork was very important as the beneficial organisms we were cultivating do not sleep (!)
Closer to the here and now, the coop’s recent rehab of the old A&P building, while remaining continuously in operation, is truly remarkable. In fact I find it actually inspiring. It took awesome energy and skill on the part of the board and staff to navigate the challenges of the last 10 years. I feel a little bit sheepish that only now, after living in Belfast for 25 years, am I offering to put my shoulder to the wheel. Above all I would be honored to join the team and to participate in the coop’s evolution.
The future of the coop depends in part on an energetic, informed and thoughtful board to develop and sustain its long term goals and priorities. The co-op is owned by the shoppers, better known as owners. The board solicits and explores the needs and vision of the owners and in that way the co-op remains deeply rooted in the community. Both new and old members contribute to this vision and the board is responsible for synthesizing these themes into a value driven plan.
“Policy Governance“ is the oddly colorless name for the structure the board has imposed upon itself. It is a disciplined method of focusing and structuring the board’s energy. It is weird but, as I become familiar with it, I find the method attractive. It forms a strong and flexible chain of both initiative and accountability. It ensures the coop’s current and future effectiveness.
The coop is a vigorous example of alternative ways of doing the fundamental business of providing healthy, sustainable food. It embodies the vision of a multi-generational enterprise centered on owners and producers and their needs and values. It defies the idea that profit is the only reason for being in business. In the current political climate, an enterprise focused on truly basic human needs is a true gem.
Susan Cutting
I have been serving on the Belfast Community Co-op Board of Directors since March, 2021, and would very much like to continue for another term. One of the first things my family did when we moved to the area in 2009 was to become member-owners of the Co-op, because we wanted to take part in the local food economy and access more healthy products with less packaging. The Co-operative model makes sense to me: why contribute to the wealth of a corporation from afar, when we can invest in our local community? Since then, I have come to see the Co-op as so much more—an anchor at the heart of our community and one of the reasons why the Belfast area is so special.
Serving on the Board has helped me to learn more about our community. It’s a way to act on my gratitude—to the workers who make us shoppers feel welcome, to the local producers who share their passions through the products they sell here, to the shoppers who support the Co-op and give to other community organizations through Common Cents donations, and to the owners who have invested the equity to make all this possible. Preparing for Board and Committee meetings each month inspires me to reach for insight as I apply the Board Director lens: what is in the best interest of the Co-op? What is important to Co-op owners and our community? What are the governing policies instructing us to do, and how might we improve them?
I’ve served as an officer of the Board since my first Board meeting: first as Vice President and as President since 2022. It’s been a challenging and exciting period of our Co-op’s growth: from the major store renovation to an increased commitment to food accessibility for our broader community. Through my prior roles in non-profit organizations in New England and abroad, I had built skills in facilitation, leadership and management. On the Co-op Board, I do my best to ensure that varying views are heard and considered. I believe in the collective wisdom of this group of people who are passionate about the Co-op.
I have also come to understand and appreciate the Policy Governance framework that the Board uses to create, improve and monitor policies that govern our Co-op. As the Board evolves over time, each elected director contributes to the long-term growth and direction of this enterprise. Thanks to the Board from its founders to present directors, and to the talented, hardworking and dedicated management and other workers, our Co-op is a professionally run and successful business. I feel honored to be on the Board of such an amazing enterprise, and if re-elected, will continue to act in my fiduciary role to protect and strengthen it for the coming years.
Richard Dines
I would like to serve on the Belfast Community Co-op Board because I love this community, I love co-ops, and I love food. I have been lucky to have spent my entire career supporting and serving all types of cooperatives. I am excited to be more involved in continuing the great success of Belfast Community Co-op, especially now that the renovation is complete and we can focus on what’s next.
I began my work in co-ops while going to college at the University of Michigan. I lived in a student housing co-op and was elected to the Board of Directors of the Inter-Co-operative Council. After attending grad school in city planning and law school, I got a job as a Legislative Representative for the National Cooperative Business Association. I worked there for 11 years in a number of different positions and then went to work for the National Cooperative Bank. At NCB, my primary role was coordinating the launch of the Food Co-op 500 to support the start-up of food co-ops across the country. That effort became the Food Co-op Initiative. I have served on the Board of Directors for FCI, including six years as Chair, since 2015.
I have worked for America’s Credit Unions (the national association for credit unions) and its predecessor, Credit Union National Association, since 2009. My position is in membership and engagement and I work with credit unions and their state associations across the country to strengthen the credit union movement. Credit unions represent the largest sector of cooperatives in the U.S. with more than 140 million memberships.
Over the years, I have also served on other co-op boards, including another food co-op and a preschool co-op. I also currently serve on the Board of Directors for Shared Capital Cooperative, a national loan fund for co-ops. In these experiences, I have learned how to listen and build consensus and I would bring these skills to my service on this board.
Steve Gold
The primary reason I would like to serve on the co-op board is my deep appreciation for the co-op’s role in the Belfast community. My wife and I live in downtown Belfast and greatly appreciate the co-op’s commitment to the community. I am interested in helping the co-op further its mission—especially relating to expansion of community outreach and engagement, an area I am passionate about and would prioritize as a board member.
Professionally, I lead a business focused on developing products that support global health, drawing on decades of entrepreneurial experience. My background includes starting and growing businesses, teaching entrepreneurship, and setting up entrepreneurship programs globally, as well as serving on many boards. While my work requires occasional travel, I live year-round in Belfast and am fully committed to active, hands-on participation on the board. I look forward to helping the co-op strengthen its connections and impact.
Rio Greeley
Having lived almost my entire life in downtown Belfast (two blocks down from the coop!) the Co-op has always played a positive and vital role in my experiences in this community, and I strive to pay those experiences forward. This would be my second term on the board, and I would be honored to continue to have this opportunity to engage and help the community.
As the former program manager of the Game Loft, a recently closed, downtown afterschool non-profit, I have experience and insight into the needs of many in the community, and I hope to continue to give what insights I can so that we can all prosper together. I am also a former Co-op employee, working in Prepared Foods, Maintenance, Shop-For-Me, and the Produce departments, so I have good insight into the inner operations of the store, and I want to ensure our workers needs are properly heard and met.
I look forward helping boost all that the co-op does to foster a sustainable community!
John Kruger
I’ve walked many paths over a half-century in Waldo County—father, husband, scientist, community representative. My service has included roles as Maine State Health and Environmental Laboratory Director, informatics consultant, MOFGA board member, Town of Liberty selectperson for over two decades, SAD3 school board director, ecologist, and now several terms as Treasurer of the Belfast Community Co-op. Each role has deepened my commitment to transparent governance and principled accountability.
I share this background to affirm a perspective I seek to bring to our board. Leadership is not about control—it’s about care, clarity, and the discipline to navigate complexity without losing sight of collective purpose. It’s about holding tension in service of transformation.
Our bylaws limit my board service to one more three-year term, a boundary that provides a renewed sense of purpose. As Treasurer, I’ve consistently advocated for fiduciary responsibility—not as a technical checkbox, but as a moral imperative. Financial strength is not just a metric—it’s the scaffolding that supports our owners and honors the labor of our staff.
I remain committed to the co-op’s success—not just as a symbolic alternative to corporate models, but as a living demonstration of what shared stewardship can achieve. Tension and struggle are part of the terrain. What matters is how we respond—with rigor, transparency, and a willingness to evolve.
James Shimko
I value the Belfast Community Co-op as a place where food, community, and shared purpose come together. It reflects what I most admire about Belfast—people working cooperatively to meet shared needs and strengthen the local economy. I would like to serve on the Board because I believe the Co-op plays a vital role in sustaining both the economic and social fabric of our region. The opportunity to help guide its direction as it continues to grow and evolve is what excites me most about serving.
I hold a Doctor of Business Administration and have taught accounting and researched sustainability reporting for many years. Through my teaching, I help students and community members develop practical skills in financial stewardship, ethical decision-making, and responsible governance. These experiences have prepared me to contribute to thoughtful discussion, balanced decision-making, and policies that reflect both the Co-op’s mission and its day-to-day realities.
My work on the board of But Still I Am One—a local nonprofit that supports young adults in Waldo County who are experiencing homelessness or housing instability—has strengthened my understanding of community service and inclusive leadership. I’ve learned that effective boards depend on listening, trust, and collaboration among people with diverse perspectives.
Beyond teaching and service, I am an active supporter of the arts and local music. I value the creative energy that brings people together and believe that culture, learning, and local enterprise together build a resilient and sustainable community.
If elected, I will bring this same spirit of cooperation and balance to my service on the Co-op Board. I am committed to maintaining the Co-op’s financial integrity, supporting open communication, and helping ensure it remains a vibrant, inclusive, and trusted part of Belfast’s cultural and economic life.
Voting Info
Owners may vote for up to seven board candidates or abstain: One owner, one ballot. The election will run from March 8nd, 2026 until March 28rd, 2026, if a quorum is not reached the vote will be extended.
Owners may fill out a paper ballot at the Co-op or they may vote online. The link for online voting will be emailed after the end of the Annual Meeting. If you have not received an email invite to vote: please vote via the paper ballot in-store and/or make sure your Owner account has the correct email address at Customer Service.
This election is not contested. For a duly-called vote to be valid, ten percent (10%) of members in good standing must take part. Candidates must receive a number of votes equal to at least 25% of the total ballots cast to be declared elected.
Any questions or issues about voting please contact marketing@belfast.coop
Find out more about the Co-op’s Board of Directors
Learn more about the 2026 Annual Meeting.
