By Thane Joyal, Dave Swanson 153 March - April - 2011 As cooperative directors, it's important that we know our jobs. Some parts of that job are personal to us: we bring interests, skills, and perspectives that make our contributions unique. It's our responsibility to use those personal attributes to participate constructively in the group that makes up the cooperative board. A key way [...]
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, [...]
Looking to the Cooperative Principles, it is clear that cooperatives are by design set up to be empowering organizations. From the first principle to the last, from open membership to concern for community, all aspects of the cooperative’s control of resources are to be a model of trust and transparency. This is achieved when the people involved at all levels know their roles [...]
Lexington Cooperative Market Buffalo, N.Y. Year founded: 1971 Number of members: 6,500 Equity investment: $80 Number of staff: 75 Retail square feet: 4,500 For many years the leadership at Lexington Cooperative Market in Buffalo, N.Y., knew their discount program was a problem. The co-op struggled with profitability, and in 2007 concerns about the co-op’s viability grew. The idea of taking away a long-term popular [...]
Explore the history of the modern-day cooperative, delve into societal trends, gain understanding of the economic and religious forces at work and let Todd Wallace weave the pieces together for you in this riveting story-telling journey through cooperative history.
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 [...]
Imagine a board that moves positively forward with a shared understanding of board purpose; following their own words about how they will operate and doing so in a way that respects individual diversity and voice, on the way to making decisions as a unified and intentional whole. Boards that do this over the long haul have built a Positive Board Performance Culture (PBPC) and [...]
