By Stuart Reid 163 November-December 2012 The mayor spoke at the co-op’s ribbon cutting, and it seemed like the whole town turned out to celebrate. The local paper wrote excitedly about the new grocery store. The future seemed bright. Nine months later, the fledgling store was begging members for additional cash infusions. Before its second anniversary, the co-op closed its doors. This story is [...]
UPDATED: February 27, 2016 Bylaws are an important set of governing agreements in which the member-owners of a cooperative articulate the special dual relationship they have with each other: members of an association and owners of a business. In the bylaws, the member-owners define how they will make certain decisions together and how they will empower a board to make other decisions on [...]
Jake Schlachter & Stuart Reid, Food Co-op Initiative With guest panelists: Laura Theis, Idaho's Bounty Laura Hanson, Stone's Throw Market Shannon Ousley, Frontier Co-op
Please refer to the Startup Policy Template referenced in the video
By Ben Sandel 156 September - October - 2011 PDF download of article: pdf of article In March 2006, about 30 people came to a meeting at the Little Grill Collective restaurant in Harrisonburg, Va., to talk about starting a cooperative. The Little Grill had opened a 600-square-foot health food store (called The Little Store) in a rundown plaza on the poorer side of [...]
By Debbie Suassuna 155 July - August - 2011 When you are evaluating a natural food co-op store location, there are a number of characteristics that can add to, or detract from, the store’s ability to generate sales. This is the second in a series of articles oriented toward discussing the types of issues to be considered in locating a natural food co-op store. [...]
It is the duty of boards to keep the co-op’s bylaws up to date on behalf of the membership, yet board members sometimes feel it is an overwhelming and potentially tedious task. That’s why CDS Consulting Co-op members Michael Healy and Thane Joyal developed the Fresh Start Bylaws template to help give boards a more user-friendly process for updating their bylaws. According to Healy, [...]
By Thane Joyal 151 November - December 2010 The Uniform Limited Cooperation Association Act (UCLAA) and a variety of state statutes have provided new financing flexibility for organizers of food cooperatives. In addition, these business forms present governance considerations. Organizers of retail food cooperatives considering using the LCA form of organization should carefully consider and clearly articulate their decisions on the appropriate distribution of [...]
