Question 1

HOUSE Testimony H401 GENERAL | MAY 15, 2025

Accepted Answer

May 15, 2025 Testimony before 
Vermont House Committee on Agriculture, Food Resiliency, and Forestry
Re: H. 401 - An act relating to exemptions for food manufacturing establishments

Good morning, Chair Durfee and members of the committee. Thank you for considering my testimony and thank you for accommodating my tight schedule. For the record, my name is Allan Reetz, and I work as Director of Public & Government Affairs at Hanover Co-op Food Stores. Across our three retail locations (White River Junction, VT, Lebanon and Hanover, NH), we purchase $19 million in local food each year from within a 100-mile radius—65% of that arrives from Vermont producers.

We support H.401 as passed by the Senate
 At our Co-op, we’ve watched many favorite, local products get their start in home kitchens—earning trust at farmers markets, growing gradually, and eventually landing on retail shelves. It’s a well-worn path for successful food entrepreneurs in stores like ours, Hunger Mountain Food Co-op, and up the road at Adamant Food Co-op. At food co-ops and independent retailers around the state, we all depend on local goods to satisfy customers and member-owners.

That’s why the sales threshold matters. It creates the breathing room small producers need to test, grow, and refine their offerings before taking on licensing costs. Raising the threshold to $30,000 allows producers to stay focused on quality and community connection.
Of course, in our trade, food safety is always paramount. So, without data pointing to safety issues among Vermont’s small producers of pickled and fermented foods, the creation of a special category seems more likely to stall growth than to prevent harm.

Businesses like ours are grateful that those producers will not be singled out because of the assumption that once they reach $10,000 in sales, they’re suddenly too busy, too risky, or the presumption that spatial limitations will impact a business with certainty. Yes, more sales bring more complexity—but they also bring more experience, and focus. Our collective effort to support growth is how greater success takes root.

Food manufacturing establishments take a variety of forms. They are where business innovation is alive and well. And they create more than just delicious, healthful products. These products deliver income streams that can keep a farm afloat, make local food more accessible, and help rural economies thrive.
Thank you for supporting all categories of early-stage producers so they can grow beyond the start-up phase. Whether or not business owners choose to move beyond selling at a local farmers market, your balanced legislative approach is giving them a fair shot to succeed.

Please move the bill forward as currently drafted. Thank you.
Respectfully submitted,

Allan Reetz
802-765-2871 (Direct, office line)
224 Holiday Drive, White River Junction, VT. (Administrative office)

Question 2

Coop Service Center Opposed to HB649 | APR 1, 2025

Accepted Answer

April 1, 2025

New Hampshire Senate Commerce Committee

Subject: House Bill 649 — An Act relative to removing the requirement for physical safety inspections and on-board diagnostic tests for passenger vehicles and eliminating funding for the motor vehicle air pollution abatement fund.

Dear Chair Innis and Members of the Committee:

House Bill 649 to remove the state requirement for vehicle inspections has raised a number of important concerns for the mechanics at our Auto Service Center in Hanover.

Among three points raised are:
·      How can a shop protect themselves legally in matters of vehicle safety, without the state having laws requiring safety?

·      What protects consumers from being taken advantage of when buying a vehicle that may not meet safety standards that are currently in the statutes? Even during the inspections of new vehicles, our team has spotted problems that posed a risk to the owner.

·      Is a shop held harmless for working on a car that they deem to not be road worthy? For instance, if they change a tire on a car, yet see that the brakes are unsafe due to no need for safety inspections, will we be liable for putting a dangerous car back on the road? The owner might not file suit, but someone injured by that vehicle very well could.

Our cooperative has offered auto repairs in Hanover since 1985. You know well the cooperative connection of providing service to member owners…working directly on behalf of customer.

Inspections work. They keep unsafe vehicles off the road.

And when low income folks can’t afford basic repairs, we have a program that subsidizes the cost of many repairs, and we often perform the work for free.

Please reconsider HB649.

Respectfully submitted,

Allan Reetz
Allan Reetz Director of Public and Government Affairs
Hanover Co-op Food Stores & Auto Service Centers of NH & VT
603-643-2667, Ext. 2871

Question 3

Corporate Council Remarks  | NOV 13, 2024

Accepted Answer

Opening address to Members of Vital Communities Corporate Council
Zoom meeting, January, 15 2025

Good morning.

My brief remarks offer a closer look at our cooperative’s approach to the community work we share.

Since 1995, my perch at the Hanover Co-op that has afforded me a view of our towns and cities, small businesses, and the Upper Valley’s regional growth.

Like you, I know that within our part of the Twin States, there is no “us and them.” Reliance on neighbors, or committing to partnerships are not barriers to action, they are how we build bridges across rivers—both literal and figurative.

That may sound a bit too poetic for this early in the morning, but it does reflect all we have done together.

When I reviewed today’s agenda, with its focus on housing, childcare, and transportation, these words and phrases caught my eye:
1.     Actionable ideas
2.     Identifying opportunities for public private partnerships
3.     Collaborative solutions
4.     Examples worth adapting
5.     Affordability

In the few minutes that I have this morning, I want to touch on some ways Hanover Co-op seeks to stand behind those themes.

My colleague Rebecca White and I have built work portfolios that are outward facing. Becca is on today’s call, as usual, and we each have specific areas of focus. On Becca’s list is Early Childhood Education. She tracks proposed legislation, is in contact with groups tackling the challenge, and reports to Co-op CEO Amanda Charland with ideas on how Hanover Co-op can establish a framework for greater community collaboration.

We build relationships with community leaders who need our vocal support. We also tap their expertise for insights and solutions.

Our aim is to understand the political, community, and business landscapes, then show up to offer informed views at the local, state, and federal level.

From those efforts, our results include stronger partnerships focused on progress, being a respected business voice in Concord and Montpelier, and standing as your partner to help build resilient communities that support every resident and every business.

Of course, this all takes that precious commodity called time.

You have probably heard it said that, it doesn’t do any good for us to sit up and take notice if we keep on sitting. You’re on this call because taking action is what has gotten you to where you are today. As this meeting unfolds, our agenda will ask all us to consider ways to do more.

To make that more doable, here is a suggestion to ease your load. Bring a person. On your team into this work. 
1.     Who on your staff can you pull into conversations like this? 
2.     Give them guidance, if needed, and definitely give them space to do the work
3.     Pick one of these agenda topics and treat it like any internal business project.
4.     They are all time sensitive.
5.     Improved results will have an impact your business.

Throughout the remainder of our call this morning, I’ll be eager to hear what you have seen and learned from the perch you hold in the Upper Valley. Our collective insights and actions deliver impact here and far beyond this valley.

Leadership is a verb and a muscle. Thank you for sharing yours.

Question 4

Allan Reetz Support for H.603 | MAR 14, 2024

Accepted Answer

March 14, 2024

Senator Starr and members of the committee, thank you for considering my testimony.

For the record, my name is Allan Reetz. Much of my work for the Hanover Co-op Food Stores of Vermont and New Hampshire centers on support for small farmers and food producers.

I’m here today because H. 603 offers a practical change to deliver sound benefits to poultry producers, consumers, and restaurants. We can all agree that the repeal of on-farm processing restrictions will NOT benefit our food cooperative in White River Junction. But, that does not matter to me. This is about small farm business growth and potential that is stymied by Vermont’s lack of small-batch processors. Making the policy for parting birds the same as for whole birds makes sense.

On-farm, uninspected parted-bird-processing has the following benefits:

1. For the producer:
a. A meat-bird poultry operation with increased product selection improves whole-farm
viability,
b. On-farm processing means increased profit margins, and
c. It allows farms to be nimble and reduce time-to-market

2. For consumers, H. 603 helps Vermont’s small poultry producers meet consumer preferences
for poultry parts and ground products rather than full broilers.
a. Senator Starr, you and some on this committee may be quite skilled at parting out a
bird, but customers at farmers markets these days would like the option of chicken
breasts and thighs, much like they prefer to take home a beef tenderloin steak from the
farmers market rather than having to take home and breakdown a full primal.

3. And restauranteurs and their teams also profit and benefit:
a. Speak to a chef/owner at one of Vermont’s many restaurants serving local food and
they will likely confirm that 40 to 50% of their profit comes from their specials menu.
i. The specials menu is the path to consumers’ preference
ii. Yet, limited, or inconsistent supplies of fresh poultry inhibit the number of
special entrees the restaurant can offer on a given night before selling out.
b. Ask a busy sous chef if they would rather part-out a chicken or just order it locally. Most will prefer to source local, parted chicken, and then dedicate time to preparing the rest of the evening menu and specials.

Finally, what about larger farms already equipped and inspected for chicken parting? They are already in prime position to successfully serve these consumers and certainly independent retailers and food co-ops around the state…which, of course, does matter to me.

Supporting smaller and new poultry producers in Vermont addresses small farm viability, diversification, and competitive resiliency. That is the intent of H. 603.

Thank you for considering my comments. I am happy to answer any questions.
Allan Reetz
Director of Public & Government Affairs
Hanover Co-op Food Stores of VT & NH
Direct: 802-765-2871
Office: 224 Holiday Drive, White River Jct., VT 05001

ADVOCACY

When I am asked to testify on behalf of an organization or cause, I work closely with advocacy partners to craft an uncommon argument that leaves legislators thinking. My aim is always to put an argument in relatable terms and common language.

HOUSE Testimony H401 GENERAL | MAY 15, 2025

Coop Service Center Opposed to HB649 | APR 1, 2025

Corporate Council Remarks | NOV 13, 2024

Allan Reetz Support for H.603 | MAR 14, 2024

Call

+1 603-359-2770

Email

albikes@duck.com

Follow