Durham Central Market began through the efforts of folks in several neighborhoods near downtown Durham who saw a need and were excited about the possibility of creating a grocery/market that focused on locally-produced food. Our goal is to create a neighborhood co-op grocery that reflects Durham's unique culture and community, and that will serve those who live and work in the heart of Durham.

The Mission of Durham Central Market is:

• To serve the central Durham community.
• To sell high quality food and other products with special emphasis on locally grown and produced goods.
• To practice sustainability in our business by using resources wisely, and by promoting goods produced in a sustainable manner.
• To foster a workplace based on respect, dignity, and fair compensation.

The 7 Co-operative Principles

The co-operative principles are guidelines by which co-operatives put their values of of self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity and solidarity into practice. Read more about the 7 principles of co-operatives HERE.

DCM By-Laws

This iteration of the DCM By-Laws, the rules by which the co-op is run, was adopted by the DCM Board effective 9/1/09.

Board of Directors

Michael Bacon holds a Master of Arts degree in Geography with an emphasis on urban issues and geographical information systems.  He currently works at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as the senior systems engineer for the campus-wide electronic mail service.  Michael has served as president of the DCM Board, and is currently Chair of the Finance and Development Committee. Back

Pam Campa is an artist by avocation and has an Associate of Arts degree in Biological Parks Management. She has been involved in cooperative grocery sales since the mid 80's, first in Gainesville, Florida and then in Durham and Chapel Hill. Her experience encompasses all aspects of cooperative market management and operation as she has held positions in sales, purchasing, membership, and human resources.  She was also intimately involved with the physical relocation of a cooperative market. She co-owned and operated a retail business in Florida in the 70's, and she moved to Durham in 1989. She  was on the original steering committee for DCM and she currently co-chairs the Marketing and Membership Committee. Back

Shelley Beason. Ms. Beason is a retired clinical social worker. She has a Master in Social Work degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Shelley also has professional experience in volunteer management, project management and residential building design and construction. Shelley and her husband Bob have lived in Durham for 40 years, and recently moved into the Old North Durham neighborhood. She is appointed to the board and is eligible for reappointment at the end of 2012. She serves as Board Secretary.  Back

Brian Burtram. Brian has been in retail management within higher education for all of his professional career. He has been heavily involved in business development, including the opening of various retail stores, and became interested in serving on the board when reading of the challenges with getting the store up and running.  He and his wife, Julie, joined the co-op last year because they are both interested in shopping locally.  Over the past few years, they have gotten involved in various efforts addressing hunger issues in the local community and Brian sees his involvment with this project as a natural extension of those efforts.

Marilyn Butler. Ms. Butler is a co-founder of Weaver Street Market (1988), a three store retail food cooperative based in Hillsborough, NC. She was the opening manager of WSM’s Southern Village store in 2002, is an expert on cheese and wine and helped open the Hillsborough store in 2008. She loved being part of a community owned food business and having a relationship based on food with thousands of customers new and old. Leaving behind the physical rigor of retail, in July 2010 Marilyn became coordinator of the graduate program in computer science at Duke and continues to fill in at Weaver Street occasionally. Marilyn first became a co-op shopper in 1972 at Hyde Park Co-op in Chicago, served on the board of the late 70’s cooperative Community Auto Repair Shop (CARS) in Durham, and was a shopper, volunteer and board member of the Durham Food Coop when it was on Broad Street. She looks forward to shopping at Durham Central Market. She is appointed to the board and is eligible for reappointment at the end of 2012. Back

Brand Fortner. Dr. Fortner is a research professor in physics at NCSU, and is considered an expert in accessible scientific visualization and in technical data formats. He previously was chief scientist of the intelligence exploitation group of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab, and is the founder of two scientific software companies. Dr. Fortner previously held positions at NASA and at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, and has written two books on color vision and technical data. He holds a PhD in astrophysics from the University of Illinois and funded a chair in astrophysics at that university. He also cosponsors a film festival at that university. H is appointed to the board and is eligible for reappointment at the end of 2012. Back

Beth Fowler has an Masters degree in Information Science.  She works for the CHAI Core in the UNC School of Public Health at UNC-Chapel Hill as an internet architect/usability specialist designing and testing web-based interventions related to cancer and nutrition research.  Beth first moved to Durham in 1982. After living in other parts of the Triangle, she finally saw the light and returned to Durham in 2003. She has served as chair of the DCM IT Committee and Treasurer and is currently serving as Board President. Back

Milan Pham. Ms. Pham is a founder of the law firm NicholsonPham in Durham, specializing in business and nonprofit law as well as criminal and family law. She graduated from UNC Chapel Hill School of Law in 1999 and was admitted to the Maryland State Bar in 1999 and to the North Carolina State Bar in 2001. She worked for Americans for a Fair Chance, a consortium of six national legal civil rights agencies, in developing the southern strategy to preserve affirmative action, and for the Orange County Human Rights & Relations Department, where she became the department Director in November of 2003. In the Human Rights & Relations Department, she focused on housing and employment discrimination related matters until 2007 when she left to become the founding Director of North Carolina Lawyers for Entrepreneurs Assistance Program (NC LEAP) of the North Carolina Bar Association Foundation. Ms. Pham is an active member of the American Bar Association Business Law Section. She is a Friday Fellow, a board member of North Carolina Rural Entrepreneurship through Action Learning (NC REAL), the Seigle Avenue Community Development Corporation and is a founding member of the Triangle Chapter of the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE). She is appointed to the board and is eligible for reappointment at the end of 2012. Back

Don Moffitt consults on business development, primarily with local businesses. He has lived in Durham since 1992 and is married to Sidney Cruze. Together they have a four year old daughter. Previously he worked with Whole Foods Market for 18 years, serving as Vice President of Store Development for seven years and Regional President for eight. He’s been on the Eno River Association’s board for 12 years, is the treasurer and chairs the Audit & Finance Committee. In addition to serving on the board of the Association, he serves on the Durham City-County Planning Commission and the board of the NC Conservation Network, and is the assistant coach of his daughter’s soccer team. He earned a professional Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Texas (Austin, 1980) and a Master of Business Administration from the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill, 2008). Back