Foundation seeks task force members with hands-on operating experience as it launches a new strategic plan built around workforce development and business continuity
Washington, D.C. – The NGA Foundation, the 501(c)(3) nonprofit arm of the National Grocers Association, has launched a new strategic plan focused on cultivating talent, strengthening operations, preserving independent ownership and expanding the Foundation’s impact across the independent grocery industry.
Shaped by input from NGA President & CEO Greg Ferrara, NGA’s Board of Directors, the Foundation Board of Regents and independent grocers across the country, the plan is guided by a vision to serve as a trusted catalyst for a thriving independent grocery industry and a mission to cultivate talent, ignite innovation and preserve independence across generations.
The plan centers on four commitments:
Cultivate Talent: Build pathways into the industry, strengthen the leadership pipeline, expand frontline worker training and continue investing in female leadership through Women Grocers of America.
Operational Excellence: Provide expert guidance through the Grocer Solutions Center on federal food access programs, including SNAP Online and GusNIP, and support efforts to raise funds and expand food access through America’s Healthy Food Financing Initiative.
Preserve Independence: Develop a succession planning framework for grocers preparing to pass a business to family members or employees, sell the business or pursue another path.
Amplify Impact: Reach more grocers, make Foundation resources easier to find and ensure its work addresses the industry’s most consequential needs.
Among the first initiatives under the new strategic plan, the Foundation is recruiting independent grocers to serve on two task forces focused on frontline worker training and succession planning.
The Foundation is seeking operators who have built effective training programs as well as those who have navigated, or are currently navigating, an ownership transition. Their experience will help shape practical resources that other independent grocers can use.
“There is so much wisdom in the grocery industry. We are looking for the retailers who have lived this and found their solutions, or are currently looking for solutions,” said Chelsea Matzen, vice president of the NGA Foundation. “We’d love to include those who have trained a team that stayed, or sat at the kitchen table to work out what happens to the business when they retire. That kind of real-world experience will make the programs the Foundation develops genuinely useful to another grocer.”
Workforce development remains one of the most persistent challenges facing independent grocers, who compete for talent against national chains with deeper budgets and more formalized training infrastructure. The frontline worker training task force will help the Foundation identify approaches that can strengthen employee development, retention and advancement across independent grocery businesses.
Succession planning presents a different but equally consequential challenge. Many independent operators approach retirement without a documented plan for what happens to the business, a gap that can ultimately determine whether a store remains independent, is sold to a chain or closes.
“Succession is the conversation nobody wants to start, and it is the one that decides whether an independent store is still independent in ten years,” Matzen said. “We want grocers to have a framework in hand, so they are not building one from scratch, alone and at a hard, urgent moment.”
The independent grocery sector represents nearly 39 percent of the total U.S. food retail market, up from 33 percent in 2021, and supports nearly 1.5 million American jobs.
Each task force will include approximately 10 to 15 members and meet virtually over the next six months. Members will help inform the Foundation’s work in these areas and champion the resources and programs developed to address them.
Independent grocers interested in serving on either task force can contact NGA Foundation Vice President Chelsea Matzen directly at cmatzen@nationalgrocers.org.
The deadline to express interest is September 18.
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About the National Grocers Association Foundation
The NGA Foundation is the charitable arm of the National Grocers Association. We work alongside the independent grocery industry to invest in its people, strengthen its operations, and protect its future. We cultivate talent, ignite innovation, and preserve independence across generations — so that grocers can continue to serve the communities that depend on them. Our programming encompasses students, leadership development, supporting women in the industry, frontline worker training, free personalized support for business innovation, and succession planning. For more information, visit www.ngafoundation.org.
About NGA
NGA is the national trade association representing the retail and wholesale community grocers that comprise the independent sector of the food distribution industry. An independent retailer is a privately owned or controlled food retail company operating a variety of formats. The independent grocery sector is accountable for about 1.2 percent of the nation’s overall economy and is responsible for generating more than $250 billion in sales, 1.1 million jobs, $39 billion in wages and $36 billion in taxes. NGA members include retail and wholesale grocers located in every congressional district across the country, as well as state grocers’ associations, manufacturers and service suppliers. For more information about NGA, visit www.nationalgrocers.org.
