Like all small businesses, we struggle with profitability, creating a consistent product, and making ourselves heard in an ever-busier marketplace. To put it another way, we need to make a good product and a profit to survive.
We believe that radical transparency will actually help us achieve these goals in the long run because they force us to scrutinize our practices.
We are now officially reporting all of our goals alongside our current performance. Our entire staff participates in setting these goals, and we encourage you to reach out with any suggestions you have.
Employment Goals:
All of our staff currently makes above the livable wage for Vermont.
Our goal, by January of 2020, is to pay our lowest-paid employee at least the Vermont Livable Wage for two people on a single income. This will require that we increase wages by 20% across the board.
Kelly and Ricky currently don’t get paid by the company.
For the sustainability of the company, the owners need to get paid eventually. Our goal is to be able to begin paying them in early 2020.
Environmental Goals:
We have reduced our cleaning water and chemical usage by 20% this year.
Our goal is to contain all of the water used for cleaning to assure a pH balance before releasing it down the drain or using it to water our brewery plants. We are hoping to buy a tote for this purpose by December of 2019.
We have purchased Ioniq Hybrids for our sales team, increasing the average fuel efficiency of our sales force from 28 mpg to 59 mpg. We have also begun using software which helps plan our routes to reduce emissions.
Our goal for the new year is to begin batching our account visits to minimize long drives from our base in St. Albans, Vermont.
Social Goals:
Now that we no longer have a Mead Hall, we are working to create safe space for our meadiacs where they can gather and celebrate.
Our goal is to partner with organizations who share our belief in safe space and feasting culture. We are currently exploring a ton of options, and we hope to be able to launch a series of events in early 2020.
As per our discussion of profitability above, we have not been able to give as much to the charities we support as we would like.
Our goal is to become profitable in 2020 and increase our level of donations to an amount agreed upon by the staff. By January 2020 we will set a specific target percentage for this.
If you’d like to learn more about our work on being more socially and environmentally responsible, check out our article about our journey towards B Corp certification!
