Syracuse Co-op’s Jeremy DeChario on leadership: ‘You have to let people make mistakes’

Jeremy DeChario is a believer in making slow, incremental progress every day. That could describe his career trajectory from part-time cashier to CEO of the Syracuse Cooperative Market.

DeChario followed his partner, Natalie Stetson, to Syracuse about 15 years ago while she was in graduate school. An acquaintance suggested DeChario apply for a job in the grocery department at the co-op, 618 Kensington Road.

“I didn’t get the job,” he says. But there was another opening at the front end. He was hired.

Over time, DeChario took on more responsibilities, first as store manager, then operations manager in 2012, then general manager in 2014. In 2021, the co-op opened a second location inside Salt City Market, 484 S. Salina St., becoming downtown’s first full-service grocery store. DeChar