November 2025

Hornby Island Co-op Board Update

It was a busy summer at the Co-op and the Board would like to thank Dave Owen and the wonderful Co-op staff for their dedication and hard work to make sure the store ran smoothly and supported our community and our island visitors. As Fall is upon us the Board would like to provide an update on what we’ve been working on over the last several months.

New Building:

The Building Committee comprised of Mike Zelen, Paul Ackerson, Michael McNamara and Alan Fletcher have continued to meet bi-weekly to finalize the design and costing for the building. A final design is nearly complete and a tender went out for the timber package, as that is the single largest expense that needed to be factored into the budget. With a firm budget in place, the Board plans to apply for grant funding with the Rural Economic Diversification and Infrastructure program to help fund the build. This program is very competitive but if successful the Co-op could receive up to $1 Million for the project. A special thanks to Mike Zelen and Peter Cowan for spearheading this initiative as it was a lot of work.

The next Board meeting is scheduled for November 10 th at which time the Board will make it’s final decision whether to proceed with the new building given the budget, the current financial situation and a decision on grant funding. Should we proceed, construction will need to commence in January 2026 in order to meet a very tight construction schedule that minimizes disruption during the busy summer season. The Board will provide a further update directly after that meeting.

Search for a new GM:

As many of you are aware Dave Owen has stepped up as Interim GM on a part time basis. Dave has done a fantastic job taking care of the store and the employees and we greatly appreciate Dave taking this on. Now that the craziness of summer is behind us, we have formed a recruitment committee to find a permanent GM. We are reviewing the job description and gathering input to ensure we find the person with the right capabilities to lead the Co-op and ensure it’s success. We will engage the FCL HR Team to help us with the search and have every confidence we will be able to find the right candidate. Having accommodation available on the 4 corners property is a huge bonus for us and is something that has always been a challenge with previous searches.

Stay tuned for more updates which we will endeavor to provide on a monthly basis. In the meantime, come visit us on the porch of the Co-op on November 8th from 11a.m. -1p.m. for our monthly porch sessions where Board members will be present to answer questions and gather input on how we can better support the community.

Until next month,
  Alison Manning on behalf of the Co-op Board