Dana is a newly hired worker at Black Star, and will be coordinating the membership and investment campaign. This is her first blog post.

I’m excited to be the newest addition to the Workers’ Assembly and can’t wait to talk with you more in the future.  With my background in grassroots organizing, I look forward to bringing my experience and knowledge to growing Black Star membership and to our Member-Investor Campaign.  This is such an exciting time to join the Co-op and I’m enjoying every minute of it.

I started last week when the Austin Chronicle article came out, which helped continue public interest in Black Star.  The article and brand new “Coming Soon” sign have contributed to a boost in our membership numbers.  We just hit 1,300 members!  Last week we also had an Investor Happy Hour at the development office.  This event kicked off our 2010 Investment Campaign which you will be hearing about very soon.  Look for information in the mail and a call from one of the members of the Workers’ Assembly in the coming weeks.  As I said before, this is a very exciting time to be involved with the Co-op and I’ll soon be sharing a Black Star beer with you in our new brewpub.

On January 23^rd, your board of directors had their yearly retreat at McKinney Falls State Park.  The eight-hour occasion included our regular monthly board meeting in which we seated new director Jessica Cassidy, as well as discussions on a number of other items of importance to the co-op, such as the evolving role of our board and where we want the co-op to be in five or more years.  The retreat also had an educational aspect to it: we had presentations on policy governance, legal matters related to being a director, and a tutorial on the reading of our financial statements which were given by Johnny Livesay, Steven Yarak, and Steve Randall, respectively.

We didn’t just work the whole time, though; for lunch we had a potluck which included barbeque, bratwurst, venison sausage chili, vegan and non-vegan gumbo, Asian slaw, some other stuff I’m sure I forgot (sorry!) and, of course beer.  It was all very tasty.

After a huge lunch we went on a hike to the falls:

Thanks again to our presenters and a special thanks to our chair of the leadership development committee, Colin Clark, for organizing such a successful retreat.  It was a great opportunity for us to learn more about being a director as well as an opportunity to better get to know one-another on a personal level.

One more thing: I’m interested in getting some suggestions for what the membership would like the co-op to look like in say, five or ten years.  At the retreat we discussed ways that we can maximize the number of non-drivers that visit the co-op, close monitoring of resource consumption to ensure we’re being environmentally responsible, strong support for other co-ops, etc.  What do you consider to be a high-priority for the co-op when we are fully functional?  Comments are welcome.

Foraged Mushroom Tart

We’re on a roll here. The Investor Thank-You Happy Hour was a blast. Johnny and I had a lot of fun and both learned some things about ourselves and our combined potential when we’re actually in the kitchen together. We served mushroom tarts, country paté on toast with pickled radish, mini burgers with home made mini buns and spicy tofu popcorn. While these items won’t necessarily be on the menu, I think it gives you an idea of the options you’ll find on the menu.

In addition to the investor happy hour, we’ve been using the office “kitchen” (a term I use loosely) to test a few ideas. Last week we made lunch for the Workers Assembly. It was sort of a test run and a welcome for Dana Curtis, the newest member of the WA. We made veggie burgers and tested three methods for the perfect chip (they’re not “fries!”).

Going forward, we want to expand the scope of our experimentation. If you’re a member-owner and you’re reading this now, you’ve probably already heard call to assemble a kitchen team. If you’re a member and have culinary experience, we want to hear from you. If you’re not a member and want to be involved in the development of the Black Star kitchen, now is the time to join the Co-op.  You can become a Joining Member right now for just $25 and get in on the action. If you were waiting for something, this is it.

Member-Investors converse in front of the development office

This past Friday, January 22nd, we hosted a thank-you happy hour at the development office for member-owners who have previously completed an investment in our Member-Investor Shares. We gave a couple tours of the future brewpub, enjoyed appetizers prepared by our future chefs, and showed off the completed construction documents.

The event also kicked off the start of our new investment campaign, and we completed several new investments from both old investors and a couple new ones as well. We plan to do more of these events in the future, and still have investment opportunities available. If you’d like to invest in the world’s first co-operatively owned brewpub, please contact us at invest@blackstar.coop.

"Coming Soon" banner awaits installation

We received approval to install a coming soon sign (ok, ok, “Summer 2010″), and it’s now ready to go up!

We’ll get it installed on the side of the building sometime next week, so the next time you’re cruising down north Lamar or up Airport, point it out and tell your friends. The traffic statistics say more than 20,000 cars pass by every day, so combined with this week’s article in the Austin Chronicle, you can practically feel the buzz building around the Co-op.

Not yet a member-owner of the world’s first co-operatively owned brewpub? Join today!

Image courtesy of The Austin Chronicle.

Black Star was featured in the food section of The Austin Chronicle this week (the Jan 21st issue). Lee Nichols, longtime Chronicle writer and well known to the Austin beer community for his I Love Beer blog, wrote the article. While he still isn’t sure we’re not crazy, he awards us a gold star nonetheless.

Read the full article at austinchronicle.com.

Kicking off the first Bar Hours of 2010, we’re returning to the land south of the river. January’s Bar Hours will be held at Snack Bar, a new establishment from two member-owners of our Co-op!

Please join us on Wednesday, January 13th for an opportunity to meet and have a beer with members of our Board of Directors. Snack Bar is located at 1224 S Congress, and as usual, the Bar Hours will run from 7-9PM.

As you know, these events are not formal meetings, but they are a great opportunity for member-owners (and prospective new members-owners!) to come share a pint with some of our Directors and enhance the membership linkage of our Co-op.

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