EASTHAMPTON – The new River Valley Co-op on 228 Northampton St. in Easthampton will officially open its doors to the public with a ribbon cutting on July 1. This will be the second store to open in Hampshire County, the first being in Northampton.

According to Rochelle Prunty, the general manager of River Valley Co-op, there are still a lot of smaller parts of the project that will need to be completed before opening.

“We are working with local artists on artwork for the walls along with regular store signage,” said Prunty. “There is a variety of millwork, cabinetry and shelving to finish installing along with lighting details, low voltage cabling and the server for our computer system.”

Prunty added that the register system equipment will arrive within a week for installment. There are still bike racks to be installed, picnic tables to be built and the kitchen needs to be set up for equipment testing, as well.

“We have our fingers crossed [that] all the things we are waiting to have delivered show up in the next few weeks,” said Prunty. “And while we are finishing up the facility, we are also very importantly developing the store staff to operate it.”

According to Nicole Cowlin, River Valley Co-op’s director of human resources, around 70 new employees will be added to the Co-op team, and the organization is hiring in both stores since some of their current staff is transferring to the new Easthampton store.

“We are still working through the applications from the last job fair and also accepting applications online,” said Cowlin. “So far we have hired over 50 people.” As of press time, there are around a dozen openings left in Easthampton and a little more than a dozen in Northampton. When the hiring process ends, River Valley is expected to have about 240 employees between both stores and their administrative office.

“We have been working on the development of this store project for over four years with the goal to grow the good community impacts of our business,” said Prunty, who added that the Easthampton store will feature the same products and same weekly specials as the Northampton location.

According to Prunty, River Valley Co-op specializes in offering a “great” selection of fresh, local and organically grown foods. “One of the key reasons we expanded to Easthampton was that there were already about 2,000 co-op owners before the project was announced,” said Prunty. “With construction underway this year, we’ve already added 1,000 new owners.”

River Valley Co-op is currently 100 percent owned by 12,100 of its customers that have joined with a $150, one-time equity investment. The $150 co-op owner investment is not an annual fee, and no work is required. According to Prunty, a $25 payment plan is available if needed, or there is a low income assistance fund to support 50 percent of the equity investment for a $5 payment plan for the $75 balance.

“Cooperative ownership is democratic ownership, it is important to us to make participation equitable and accessible,” said Natasha Latour, River Valley’s director of marketing.

The 22,000-square-foot building in Easthampton is “largely complete,” including floors, roof, walls, windows, doors, lighting and plumbing. A 169.15 kw solar array has been installed on the roof along with solar light tubes that bring natural daylight into the center of the store, and air sourced heat pumps for their non-fossil fuel HVAC system. Refrigeration equipment has been installed and grocery equipment has been put together already. The bulk food fixtures are getting put together right now.

Aside from those amenities, the new location’s stormwater management system has been completed along with underground utilities. According to Prunty, the parking lot has been paved and striped, and seven electric vehicle charging stations have been installed. A lot of the landscaping has been completed, as well.

A total of 925.95 kWh of energy will be generated annually between the solar canopy over the parking lot and the solar rooftop system. "We didn't think it was possible to generate all the power we use on site for a grocery store of this size, but Solar Design Associates took on the challenge and Co-op Power brought the whole project together for us,” said Prunty.

River Valley made wholesale purchases of $7 million last year to local farmers and food producers, and they hope to grow that by close to 30 percent this year with the added sales volume of the Easthampton store. They currently have 420 local and regional vendors, and Prunty is welcoming other new local vendors to apply, as well.

According to Prunty, the grand opening will be a soft opening as it will take a while before the kinks inside the store are all worked out.

“The thing I’m looking forward to most is getting to know the new staff members, new community members, and vendors, and seeing what their good energy brings to the organization,” said Prunty. “I can’t wait to see all of the good things we can do together this year.”

For more information on application for employment, visit the website at http://rivervalley.coop/employment. For information on how to become a vendor, visit http://rivervalley.coop/main-nav/our-co-op/become-a-vendor.