Board of Directors

President - Sarah Phillips

I moved to Plainfield village in 2001 with my partner, Jeff Swift, and we joined the Co-op on our second day in town! As a grocery and gathering place, the Co-op is part of why we choose to make Plainfield our home. We now live at New Hamburger (a housing co-op) with our three kids, and our family berry batch sells fruit to the Plainfield Co-op. I believe deeply that Co-ops build strong communities because of the way they help us learn to work and grow together. While a graduate student, I stocked shelves at the People's Food Co-op in Ann Arbor, and I was a member of the Plainfield Co-op's last capital campaign team – through these experiences and others, I have a deep appreciation for the work of Co-op staff, management, board and members. I want a Plainfield with a lively working landscape and local food system, and the Co-op is key to making that happen. For these reasons, it is a privilege to serve the Co-op on the Board. Currently, I lead the Vermont Office of Economic Opportunity in the Agency of Human Services, which provides funding and support to community organizations across the state working to address poverty and homelessness. In previous lives, I worked at Capstone Community Action and served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Guinea.

Phone: 802-476-8360

Vice President - Cat Klarich

Cat Klarich has been shopping at the Plainfield Co-op since moving to Maple Hill Rd. over 17 years ago. Cat grew up in Montpelier and shopped at the Hunger Mountain Co-op, way back when it was on Barre St! She remembers helping her mom and being rewarded with a carob- covered rice cake.

After starting a family, Cat and her husband decided to move to the country to take on a fixer upper, dialing into this area in large part because of the Plainfield Co-op. Being able to buy good food locally was important to them.

Cat is a country girl at heart. Her mom was raised on a farm in Hardwick, the youngest of 15 children! Long before Cat was born, the farmhouse burned to the ground. Decades later, the farmhouse and barn were rebuilt by Cat’s cousin. Their 50th family reunion was recently held in the new barn.

“It might sound strange, but the way I feel about the farm is the same the way I feel about the Plainfield Co-op. It offers a sense of belonging and community.” She insists there is no hidden carob-covered rice cake agenda.

Cat keeps busy managing the family business, hanging out with her husband, and trying to keep up with their three kids. She has no spare time, but squeezes in motorcycle rides, Friday night dinners, and performing stand up comedy.

Treasurer - Giordano Checchi

Mr. Checchi is a graduate of the School of Engineering of Politecnico di Milano, and he owns a degree from the School of Management (SDA) of Bocconi University in Milano Italy. After a beginning in oil and gas exploration, he made his most valuable experience in transfer of technology, project management, and sales of capital equipment. His career spans four decades and includes experience in worldwide sales and marketing of industrial know-how and capital equipment, the establishment of turnkey manufacturing facilities all over the world. He established and managed subsidiaries for several European businesses in U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Italy in the industry of primary and secondary woodworking. He has spent half of his working life in Italy and half in the U.S. and has served as the CEO of 4 large corporations. Currently, Mr. Checchi is President of Sunomi LLC, a sale and service company, representing manufacturers of equipment for the green, recycling, and bioenergy markets, and he has served as Adjunct Professor of Engineering at Norwich University.

Secretary - Les Snow

I’ve been a member of our wonderful cooperative since 1989 and served on the board as treasurer from 2007 to 2013. I am grateful for the opportunity to serve on the board again.

My experience with cooperatives goes beyond Plainfield Food Co-op, in that I am a founding (1993) member-owner of Wellspring Land Cooperative in Marshfield where my wife (Lori Baker) and I live. In 2015 and 2016, I took the cooperative management graduate diploma classes at Saint Mary’s University. Though not specifically a cooperative, in 1989, I founded and managed the first independent community supported agriculture project in Vermont. A community effort in many ways. Most of my professional work has been in nonprofit management, most recently as program manager at a national organization based in Montpelier that provides emergency assistance to artists.