Earlier this year we reported on Patrick Shabram’s deep data drive—market analysis that supports co-op startups and expansions (it’s available in the Columinate online Library). Expanding on that theme, I recently spoke again with Shabram, who discussed some of the key elements of market studies and noted his collaboration with key cooperative allies.
Columinate’s Manager on Contract program offers interim general management that supports co-ops in transition. During an period of management transition, quite often it is more advantageous for a co-op to use the services of a Manager on Contract than to feel like they are forced into a quick decision. While some co-ops have a solid bench of potential management candidates, others do not have this luxury. A Manager on Contract (MOC) will allow the board an adequate timeframe to carry out a proper search for a qualified candidate.
Many Columinate engagements are with start-up co-ops. Although these projects are a lot of work, they are also very rewarding for the Manager on Contract (M0C) and all other parties. MOC program director Garland McQueen comments, “It is always very exciting to see the first customer enter a store where you were a major part of the buildout and opening.” For this report, I asked McQueen to review the many elements of new store development for a Manager on Contract, and I have relied on his comments.
Location research consultant Patrick Shabram is a new Columinate member—welcome! Shabram has over thirty years of experience in store location research, market research, and Geographic Information Systems. His clients include both startup co-ops and established food co-ops planning expansion or relocation. Shabram summarizes his professional practice, using current research, as dedicated to providing accurate numbers that support informed decisions by the co-op’s planning group.
Columinate Manager on Contract (MOC) consultants provide essential support that strengthens co-ops in transition—through both short-term and long-term agreements. MOC services are more diverse than many people may appreciate. The program serves food co-ops needing various management support, and MOC provides leadership in a wide range of scenarios.
Start-up cooperatives face tremendous challenges while on their long road—from foundational organizing to the establishment of a sustainable brick-and-mortar business delivering their mission to the communities they serve. We have seen that organizations can benefit greatly from the learnings of more seasoned businesses that have been on that journey.
Columinate’s Interim General Manager (IGM) services have yielded very positive results at People’s Food Co-op (PFC) in Ann Arbor, Michigan. While under contract as IGM, Chris Morris has exercised a wide range of skills to work with the existing team and turn around a wavering operation. Morris was hired in early January and ends his contract with PFC on May 30.
Columinate is proud to welcome Patrick Shabram as a new consultant. Patrick comes to Columinate after working with location research expert Debbie Suassuna of G2G Research Group since 1998 (specifically, with G2G Research since 2017), bringing more than 30 years of experience in location research, market research, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to the Columinate network.
We all want to do more with our co-ops: make a bigger impact, pay better wages, support our local non-profits. Sometimes the money to make that impact can come from operational profits, but at other times co-ops can turn to grants. Columinate consultant Molly Phipps has been grant writing since graduate school and has helped co-ops and other organizations write successful grant applications.
Ready for digital literacy Co-ops have a lot of teaching to do. To build a cooperative ecosystem with knowledgeable and invested stakeholders aware of what it is they have become a part of, it takes a lot of orienting, sharing, demonstrating, and educating. A cooperative can fail if it does not consistently apply Co-op Principle 5: Education, Training, and Information. Lack of strong education systems within a co-op culture can slowly erode its core.
