Students of Georgetown, Inc. released its annual financial report this week. The bad news: Net losses total close to $20,000. The good news: The Corp’s board members couldn’t be happier.
“It’s not really that bad for us. We’ve had some years that were worse, and some that were better,” said Corp president Kelsey Shannon (CAS ‘04). “It’s been our best year in a while.”
The entirely student-run company operates the campus convenience stores, three coffee shops, photo-developing services and a movie-rental store.
The loss, totaling more than $19,000 is a substantial improvement from last year’s $57,342. Although total sales revenue was down from 2002, gross profit was up. Shannon attributes this to efforts to increase efficiency.
“Less money was lost on spoiled food this year, and employees worked longer shifts to decrease the amount of wage earners,” Shannon said.
While most companies would be lamenting losses to the tune of $20,000, the Corp isn’t. “The Corp is a non-profit organization. We don’t really want to make money,” said Shannon. The Corp is about serving students and giving back to the community by donating to programs like Habitat for Humanity, Shannon said.
Shannon said that the losses would not affect the quality of the Corp’s services. There is a reserve of funds set aside for such times when capital is scarce.
