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Startup Support

Providing Management Leadership When Help is Needed: Supporting store startups and turnarounds

By |2023-08-02T19:46:29-04:00August 2nd, 2023|

Columinate's Manager on Contract and Interim General Manager services can be a game-changer for food co-ops and community-focused independent grocery retailers. In this report and in following weeks, we will highlight Columinate consultants working as managers on contract. Featured here, following our summary of these programs, is Garland McQueen at Lovettsville Cooperative Market, which is planning to open in late August 2023.

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Welcome! Lisa Malmarowski and Pam Mehnert, Flying Squirrel Milwaukee LLC

By |2023-06-27T14:59:57-04:00June 27th, 2023|

Sometimes the road to Columinate is a direct line, and sometimes it’s a leisurely path with many twists and turns. For Lisa Malmarowski and Pam Mehnert of Flying Squirrel Milwaukee LLC, joining Columinate has been a logical extension of the work each of them has been doing at Outpost Natural Foods in Milwaukee. They have been sharing their skills with fellow cooperators for years, putting into practice the cooperative principles of education and cooperation among cooperatives.

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For Co-op General Managers: Unpacking Total Compensation

By |2023-07-25T16:33:40-04:00June 27th, 2023|

You can compare your co-op’s general manager (GM) compensation with over 100 others in the Columinate Compensation Database. And the more co-ops that use the database, the more useful this tool will be for all co-ops. If a co-op GM has not already registered for the database, they can do so by going to compensation.columinate.coop and following the prompts. If the co-op is a member of NCG, database registration is free.

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Jeanie Wells’ Mighty Community Markets Wins Innovation and Achievement Award

By |2023-06-19T17:47:05-04:00June 19th, 2023|

Independent grocers and co-ops face formidable challenges to survival, from WalMart to dollar stores, while often lacking the resources they need. Columinate's Jeanie Wells is providing these retail operations with essential skills and tools. At the June 2023 CCMA conference, Wells' Mighty Community Markets (MCM) training program was held up to its national audience as an outstanding example of cooperative innovation and achievement. (Go [...]

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David Cruz Ramirez: Translating, a Catalyst for the Common Good

By |2023-06-21T14:48:51-04:00May 22nd, 2023|

“The movement toward housing co-ops is very important for low-income and underrepresented communities. It excites me to be able to apply my theoretical knowledge in a practical way.” David Cruz Ramirez learned early the lessons of being resourceful and adaptable. And now, his translation skills and organizing experience are broadening the reach of Columinate. Cruz, bilingual from childhood, was born in Mexico City, raised in northern California, and loves to travel. When I caught up with him to interview for this article, he was in his sister’s smoothie shop and buying the warm clothes he needed to take his dad for a birthday trip to Anchorage, Alaska.

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Introducing Tamah Yisrael: A Community Connector

By |2023-05-17T18:25:56-04:00May 17th, 2023|

Tamah Yisrael, an energizing and experienced new member of the Columinate team, connects and organizes the community. Thanks to her work as a co-op board member, start-up co-op leader, comptroller, chief financial officer, loan officer, musician, and education/outreach coordinator, Yisrael is invested in figuring out new solutions to old problems from within her community. “The ultimate work is power shifting. What is the path towards shifting power—does it look like cooperatives, does it look like strategies that include cooperative values and principles? I’m happy to offer part of the solution,” says Yisrael.

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Mark Mulcahy is Bringing the Joy

By |2023-05-12T11:16:50-04:00May 9th, 2023|

There is an entire genre of films and TV shows dedicated to pointing out the soullessness and drone of American workplaces, with 1999’s Office Space perhaps the most famous example. Columinate consultant Mark Mulcahy has the prescription for both the workers at Office Space’s fictional Initech, and for the real workers at co-ops and independent grocers across the country. “I’m working on bringing joy and balance back to the workplace. That’s gotten lost. That’s what makes people want to come to work: to find joy and purpose in their work. Everyone carries the same products and margin pressures will continue. Businesses who build a culture of doing real work through joy will thrive.”

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Financing a Start-up Grocery: A Conversation with Don Moffitt

By |2023-05-05T20:05:18-04:00March 2nd, 2022|

Food access in low-wealth communities is a major problem that continues to grow. More and more, communities with food access difficulties are looking to the cooperative model to meet their needs. For a start-up cooperative, once the foundational questions of “why do we exist?” and “who do we exist to serve?” are answered, the next big question to address is “how do we pay for it?”

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