I'm a pretty big fan of data.  Collecting it, analyzing it, sharing it.  My computer work folders are filled with spreadsheets and charts and research papers (with grand hopes to read at some point).   This love of data goes way back to my childhood with memories of keeping box scores at the Twins' games and creating my own "box score" recording pages for Viking's games I'd watch on tv.   I kept lists of books I read, a chart of my guppies' length of life, and temperature readings from the thermometer outside our kitchen sink window, with corresponding graphs and charts.  And, yes, an 8th grade science fair project that included a survey about a brand-new technology - calculators.

Being a school teacher, data collection was how I helped my students understand their growth and progress.  I kept detailed records and charts and encouraged students to track their own efforts.  During my alternative school teaching years, where I was teaching scientific methods and math alongside literature, I tended to see data collection as just a part of everything.  I think I might have even been a measurement fanatic - I'd be happy to try to measure anything.

But how do you measure a year? goes the song from Rent. 

Being a business owner, measuring a year is more than just cups of coffee and sunrises, it's a requirement from the government.   There are layers and layers of collecting data in order to prepare and present an accurate measurement of my business year.  Much of this is, of course, sales and expenses and trying to understand my overall profit or loss for taxation purposes.  But, truly, it's so much more than just about the money.

As a General Benefit Corporation, we've been measuring a few other activities at the cafe.  To meet our sustainability goals, we've been measuring our waste at the end of each day, sorting out the numbers for our compost, recyclables, and the what's-left-over-waste in our trash can. We began this measurement this year, to help us create a baseline that can encourage us to find creative ways to get closer to zero.  Our data has supported what we had been "feeling" all along, that we're about 5% away from zero waste. 

One of the other measurements we keep track of has been the hours of training and workplace experience we provide to residents of Nicollet Square during our internship programming.  These numbers tell lots of stories and help us stick to our commitment as a partner with Beacon Interfaith Housing and Youth Link as we all work together in this effort.  This year, the number will pass 1000 hours.

Keeping records of the advocacy work happening through the cafe is a whole other way of collecting data. Trips to the capital and testimony opportunities can be recorded, as well as conversations sought out, calls made, events hosted, letters sent, information posted, petitions signed, get on the list as well.  But just being available at the cafe for questions and queries could also be identified as advocacy work at times too.  My daily calendar is a rich (but messy) story of a year of activity and activism that is in itself a chart of sorts.

Thankfully, my point sale and payroll program - Square - is very rich in data collection, with oh, so many reports I can generate.  I also like to dig into all the reporting options within my Quickbooks program I use for bookkeeping and accounting.  But my favorite is still an Excel spreadsheet workbook that was developed by a mentor through the Metropolitan Consortium of Community Developers, Rob Smolund.  I've adapted this workbook each year to help me forecast, budget, keep an accurate cashflow, and prepare reports for my staff and advisory board.  As the years have gone by, it is a deep, rich story of the ups and downs of running a small business.

Unbeknownst to me, another form of measuring had been happening around me this past year.  Last month, I was presented with a "climate scarf" by the dear members of our third Saturdays' knitting group - Hats for the Homeless - organized by Barb Melom.  The group has been coding the daily temperatures over the past 12 months and knitting them into a colorful (blues for cold - yellows and reds for hot) scarf that literally stretches a year.  This gift recognizes yet another effort of the cafe to be climate justice advocates and will always remind me of the grassroots work through MN350 and others to bring a robust and bold Climate Equity Plan to the city council this year.  If you need a visual reminder that we're in the midst of a changing climate, my scarf will serve as data.

With so much to measure, though, it is just the number 12, as in another 12 stories of my life walking this green path as a neighborhood small business owner, that brings me a sense of gratitude.  It has been another tough year, but to have walked it, and shared it with you brings me joy.