Staff

Janet Utecht, Executive Director was born, raised, and attended college in the Midwest. After college she worked for Kimberly-Clark Corporation for over 20 years in Finance, Manufacturing, Marketing, and Supply Chain leadership roles.  In 2006, Janet made the decision to leave the “for profit” world and joined the United States Peace Corps as a business adviser volunteer and worked on various projects in the Environmental, Technology Transfer, and Sustainable Agriculture programs in Mexico and Ecuador. It was in Ecuador that she worked with her first coffee growing cooperative and became interested in fair trade, organic coffee production.  Janet joined Coop Coffees in 2011.

Bill Harris, CFO and founder of Coop Coffees as well as Café Campesino, a Fair Trade roaster based in Americus, Georgia. Both businesses share the mission of helping disadvantaged farmers receive a fair price for their product through mutually beneficial, long-term trade partnerships.  Before “fair-trade enlightenment,” Bill was the president of a food distribution company, a trust portfolio manager, and a business consultant.  He currently serves on the Board and as treasurer of the Fair Trade Federation and on  the Board of Directors of Glover Foodservice.

Abby Trantham, Office Manager, is a honor graduate from Georgia Southwestern State University. She acquired her Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting in 2006. She manages the daily office tasks for Cooperative Coffees here in Americus, GA.  She is responsible for the outbound green bean ordering, invoicing, accounting, and other various areas.

Chelsea Carter recently joined Cooperative Coffees in Americus. She is a 2006 honor graduate from Georgia Southwestern State University, where she received a Bachelor of Arts in English and Professional Writing. She has traveled to many places around the world, including Egypt, Norway, England, France, Switzerland, and Costa Rica. She is responsible for the inbound green coffee processing and certification and compliance.