…and very dry as well.

Acorn shrapnel being dropped by the many squirrels enjoying our oaks

Very hot and dry. Morning spent taking Pax to the vet in J’ville for a little more back-end or behind the scenes work. On the plus side, no big problems.

Having a little more free time, as a result of current conditions, I volunteered to help the grocery coop struggling to be born in WW. And, I was assigned to PR. Oh, well. Here’s my first puff piece:
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Whitewater Grocery Company Transplanting It’s HQ

by Jim Nies

GroCo is moving to new digs.

As the new UWW Community Engagement Center (CEC) has begun coming on line, and as the pandemic has forced everyone into a more virtual existence, it just made sense to the GroCo Board to take advantage of the new opportunity across town.

The new Community Engagement Center, in the former Sentry building, is designed to be a bridge between the university and the community. It will offer office space, meeting rooms, class rooms, a community board room, and even an art gallery. As life comes back to normal it will be a place of programs, workshops, and informational gatherings.

According to Gina Elmore, UWW Human Resources Development Coordinator and manager of the facility, the CEC’s mission is to listen to requests from the community and then try to meet them. “It will be a place of collaboration, a bridge between communities. We want it to it to be the hub of people coming together,” she said.

Perfect place for a growing organization like GroCo, says Lacey Reichwald, Whitewater Grocery Company Board President.

A convergence of events—expiration of the lease at the Innovation Center, a need to go virtual for a while, and the opening of the CEC—all led to the decision to move.

For now, GroCo does not have physical office space, just storage space. But, as a member of the CEC, it does have access to all the other features of the facility, and these will be increasingly used as conditions permit.

GroCo has what’s known as a Community Organization membership, and will be sharing the CEC with other organizations, such as the Small Business Resource Center (SBRC).

There will be benefits to rubbing shoulders (touching elbows?) with other community organizations, like the SBRC) according to Reichwald. “We can collaborate on events and workshops for the community,” she says. It will permit a closer connection with UWW students and faculty. And, it will “definitely help us increase GroGo’s exposure.”

All of which promises to advance the time until the grand opening of Whitewater’s very own grocery store.

Good move.