Proposed Tasks and Schedule
Although Electric City Community Grocery has been working on this project for over ten years, this is not uncommon for community-owned grocery start-ups. In the past year, many cooperatively owned groceries have opened after ten years or more of community organizing. Projects like these have staying power because they have deep community support. The Detroit People’s Food Co-op, the Dorchester Food Co-op in Boston, and the Wild Onion Market in Chicago are shining examples.
In the coming 12 months, the Electric City Community Grocery will be moving from concept to reality. The final push to open our community-owned grocery, while multifaceted, can be organized into three phases: (1) project kickoff, (2) construction and systems setup, and (3) grand opening.
The first phase, project kickoff, runs from approximately 11/20/24 through 1/31/2025. While we’ve been preparing for this phase for many years, three significant steps will occur in this three month window: (1a) selecting a project manager to lead the organization through the construction and systems setup phase, (1b) officially kick off our store development contract with National Co+op Grocers (NCG), and (1c) finalize our lease of a construction-ready “vanilla box” in Downtown Schenectady.
The second phase, construction and systems setup, runs from approximately 2/1/2025 through 10/5/2025 and will be led by our newly contracted Project Manager, supported by seasoned store development professionals from NCG and our Board of Directors. This second phase, can also be broken down into three core elements: (2a) finalizing store design and equipment planning, with sustainability ,resource efficiency, and accessibility front and center in all aspects of design (2b) construction and store buildout, turning our “vanilla box” into a welcoming, vibrant, community space, and (2c) hiring our cooperative’s first General Manager. With this significant milestone, ECCG becomes an employer. Day-to-day responsibilities of managing the organization shift from the Board of Directors to the General Manager (GM), who will work collaboratively with the Project Manager (PM) and NCG through this final push.
The third phase, grand opening, runs from approximately 10/5/2025 through our Grand Opening in the Winter. As construction and store buildout reach completion, so does our time with our contracted project manager. The GM takes the reins on readying the store for Grand Opening, with significant continued support from NCG’s Store Development and Retail Support Teams and our Board of Directors. This phase, while also multifaceted, can again be simplified into three components: (3a) IT systems, including point-of-sale system setup and preparing to intake opening orders of product from local and regional farmers and producers and national vendors alike. (3b) HR systems, including the onboarding of key administrative staff and department managers three months prior to opening day, followed by the onboarding of floor-level staff one month prior to opening day. The co-op will prioritize hiring employees at all levels matching the diversity of Downtown Schenectady. Finally, (3c), staff training and readiness for our Grand Opening.
Activity | Milestones | Revised Dates | Responsible Party |
Project Kickoff | Kickoff Meeting | 2024-11-20 | PM |
Store Design Priorities (Concept) | Community Store Design Charette - Design Priorities | 2024-11-20 | PM |
Human Resources | Select/Contract Project Manager | 2024-12-07 | ECCG Board |
ECCG SteerCo Meeting | Q4/2024 - Quarterly Progress Review | 2024-12-07 | ECCG Board |
NCG Feasibility - Financials | Feasibility Pro-Forma Financial Statements | 2024-12-10 | NCG |
Project Comms | 12/24 status updates (Newsletter) | 2024-12-14 | PM |
NCG Feasibility - Store Design | Store Concept Plan | 2024-12-16 | NCG |
Project Comms | 1/25 status updates (Newsletter) | 2025-01-11 | PM |
Contracts | Lease Signing | 2025-01-20 | ECCG Board |
Project Comms | 2/25 status updates (Newsletter) | 2025-02-15 | PM |
Store Design Preliminary Review | Community Store Design Charette - Preliminary Design Feedback | 2025-02-19 | PM |
Human Resources | Hire General Manager | 2025-03-03 | ECCG Board |
NCG Preliminary - Store Design | Preliminary Fixture Plan | 2025-03-03 | NCG |
IT Systems | Establish Customer Relationship Management system | 2025-03-07 | GM |
ECCG SteerCo Meeting | Q1/2025 - Quarterly Progress Review | 2025-03-08 | ECCG Board |
NCG Preliminary Development - Financials | Preliminary Pro-forma Financial Statements | 2025-03-10 | NCG |
Project Comms | 3/25 status updates (Newsletter) | 2025-03-15 | PM |
Construction | Lease "vanilla box" delivered by Landlord | 2025-03-22 | Landlord |
NCG Final - Store Design | Final Fixture Plan | 2025-03-24 | NCG |
NCG Final - Store Design | Equipment List | 2025-03-24 | NCG |
NCG Final - Financials | Final Budget | 2025-03-24 | NCG |
NCG Final - Financials | Updated Pro-forma Financial Statements | 2025-03-24 | NCG |
Project Comms | 4/25 status updates (Newsletter) | 2025-04-19 | PM |
Procurement & Supply Chain | Farmer / Producer Outreach | 2025-04-19 | PM |
Project Comms | 5/25 status updates (Newsletter) | 2025-05-17 | PM |
ECCG SteerCo Meeting | Q2/2025 - Quarterly Progress Review | 2025-06-07 | ECCG Board |
Project Comms | 6/25 status updates (Newsletter) | 2025-06-14 | PM |
Local Hiring & Job Readiness | Local Hiring Plan & Policy Development | 2025-06-14 | ECCG Board |
Procurement & Supply Chain | Local MBE-WBE Procurement Plan & Policy Development | 2025-06-14 | ECCG Board |
Construction | Space Build-out | 2025-06-20 | Construction Contractor |
Project Comms | 7/25 status updates (Newsletter) | 2025-07-19 | PM |
Project Comms | 8/25 status updates (Newsletter) | 2025-08-16 | PM |
Procurement & Supply Chain | Preliminary Farmer / Producer Roster | 2025-08-16 | PM |
Construction | Equipment installation | 2025-08-20 | Construction Contractor |
ECCG SteerCo Meeting | Q3/2025 - Quarterly Progress Review | 2025-09-06 | ECCG Board |
Project Comms | 9/25 status updates (Newsletter) | 2025-09-13 | PM |
Project Comms | 10/25 status updates (Newsletter) | 2025-10-11 | PM |
Human Resources | Hire Department Managers | 2025-10-24 | GM |
Human Resources | Hire Administrative Staff | 2025-10-24 | GM |
IT Systems | Procure POS system | 2025-10-29 | GM |
IT Systems | Establish Accounting and Payroll systems | 2025-10-29 | GM |
Project Comms | 11/25 status updates (Newsletter) | 2025-11-15 | PM |
ECCG SteerCo Meeting | Q4/2025 - Quarterly Progress Review | 2025-11-15 | ECCG Board |
Procurement & Supply Chain | Final Farmer / Producer Roster | 2025-11-15 | PM |
Human Resources | Floor Level Staff | 2025-12-29 | GM |
IT Systems | Deploy and ready POS | 2025-12-29 | GM |
Human Resources | Staff Training and Readiness | 2025-12-29 | NCG |
General | Opening Day | 2026-02-03 | GM |
