Things have been hectic over the past couple of weeks as out Directors pin down many of the details of our supply chain and Co-op operations.

I had the pleasure of spending a week in Decatur providing instruction to our staff in maintenance of the AFCNA member website (www.afcna.com), our E-Store (www.AmericasAlpaca.com), and several other Internet and computer related areas. Both Mendy and Tammy are quick studies and motivated employees. We are fortunate to have them working for us.

No sooner had I left Tennessee than Mendy and Tammy were off to New Jersey where they, Daryl and Stacey met with several of our vendors. By all reports this was an incredibly productive time. Many bugs in our supply chain were identified, and solutions were developed and are now being implemented. These changes, most of which will be transparent to you, will improve our ability to run efficiently as we continue to develop and market product from our North American alpaca fiber.

Preliminary preparations are underway for our 2nd annual fleece show, which will now be named the "AFCNA Continental Fleece Show". Expect more information about this soon. Those who participated in last year's show will have good memories of this unique event. We should all express our thanks (and give our support) to Robin Gilmore who will once again be managing the show at no cost to our cooperative.

On Thursday, March 15th the North Carolina State University College of Textiles will host a conference titled Alpaca Fiber to Market from 10 AM until 3 PM in Raleigh, North Carolina. The day's events will include focus group meetings and a tour of the College of Textiles facilities. There is no cost for the conference, but the college does request a brief email to This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it or a call to 919-515-6500 so that they know how many people will attend.

Our Cooperative has been working with Dr. Helmut H. Hergeth of the College of Textiles on a number of issues related to our yarn manufacturing and general quality improvement of our products. I would like to encourage any member that is able to attend this conference. This would be a good opportunity to demonstrate our commitment to the cooperative process while furthering our relationship with this unique academic resource.

While we strive for perfection, we sometimes fall short. Due to a communication problem, our candidate statements and ballots will be delayed a couple of weeks. I had hoped that they would be going out the first of March. It now looks like the 15th will be the best we can do. My apologies to both the candidates and the membership for this error. It seems there was some confusion over exactly who was to be sending out candidate questionnaires and collecting the candidate statements, and I was not tracking this closely enough to catch the problem in time. Again, my apologies to all.

Finally, you owe it to yourself to check out the clearance items on our E-Store. There are some incredible deals available as we clear out some of our slow moving inventory:

• All Season Long Sleeve Pullover - Member Price $20
• Birdseye Pullover Vest - Member Price $20 (Limited sizes available)
• RedMaple Basic Skiband - Member Price $6
• RedMaple Solid Shawl Collar Jacket - Member Price $90
• And more...

This is a great time to support your Cooperative while snuggling into some luxurious alpaca. (I just suggested to my wife that she might want to get some of those skibands for stocking stuffers for NEXT Christmas.)

Winter looks to be nearing an end out west here. The grass is showing the first signs of beginning to grow, just as the hay loft is beginning to look a little bare. The neighbors have new lambs playing in their pasture and the fruit trees are beginning to bud. May this be a peaceful and productive year for all of us.

John Merrell, President
Alpaca Fiber Cooperative of North America, Inc.