Starting a Buying Club
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
Effective Boards and Teams: Structure and Accountability
Please refer to the Startup Policy Template referenced in the video
Harrisonburg’s Friendly New Neighbor
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 [...]
The Right Fit: Facility Considerations for your Co-op
By Debbie Suassuna 156 September - October - 2011 There are a number of characteristics that can add to or detract from a natural food co-op store’s opportunity for success. We’ve covered location and site characteristics to be considered in planning a natural foods co-op store. This article discusses facility characteristics: size and shape of the facility, its layout on the site, and the [...]
Finding the Right Site for your Co-op
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. [...]
Why Rehash the Old When You Can Start New? Try Fresh Start Bylaws
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 [...]
Governance Considerations for New Retail Food Cooperatives
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 [...]
