Good Governance Makes Community Stronger
Maple City Market Goshen, IN Year founded: 1976 Membership investment: $100 Number of members: 3,000 Number of employees: 25 Recently, Goshen, Indiana was named “Community of the Year” by the state’s Chamber of Commerce. For [...]
Community Connections, Co-op Opportunities!
Cindee Lolick, General Manager at First Alternative in Corvallis, OR shares several exciting tales of opportunities that First Alt has been given because of their deep and lasting involvement in the Corvallis community.
Partnerships: For Reflections & Expanding our Reach
Bonnie Hudspeth, in her role as Programs Manager for the Neighboring Food Co-ops Association, is here to bring you the tales of New England food co-ops SUCCESSFULLY working together to tackle the thorny issues of [...]
Customers, Community, and Cost: A Pathway to Success
Michael Faber, General Manager at the Monadnock Food Co-op in Keene, NH, shares his top 3 areas of improvement and growth for the success of his co-op. These are: Customer Experience (CX), Pricing, and Community [...]
Responding to Workplace Conflicts and Employee Concerns
Boards of directors want to know that co-op staff are fairly treated and that the co-op has a good reputation as an employer. General managers need the authority to carry out board policy, and that [...]
Everyone Welcome – Delighting Customers and Building Community
In this latest installment from Dave Olson, Development Director for National Co+op Grocers, he lays out the overarching mission for NCG for the next couple years. On the operations side, Olson delves into the Customer Experience (CX) that co-ps offer, and how to really start thinking about all customers, not just member-owners, as the "heart of the co-op".
Expanding the Boundaries of Retailing in Local Communities
Contemporary food co-ops have begun important discussions in their organizations around equity and inclusion. As part of that process, they’ve had to accept and deal with some painful truths that their co-ops have not always been perceived as inclusive, especially through the shopping experience.
The Wisdom of “Everyone Welcome?”
Jade Barker, Governance Consultant with Columinate and co-author of "Everyone Welcome?", shares some of the wisdom that she gained in working on the "Everyone Welcome?" project. In this video Jade shares some of her personal experience as a person of color in the predominantly white food co-op sector and what it has been like on her 15 years journey so far with food co-ops.
Nurturing Inclusion and Diversity on Staff
The Takoma Park Silver Spring Co-op (TPSS) in Takoma Park, Maryland is a cooperative that is known for its diversity and inclusion among staff and customers. Currently, 48 employees from 20 countries work at the food co-op. Creating an atmosphere of welcome and exchange is something that they continually work on.
The Power of an Association of People
Using the Cooperative Principles as her guideposts, Jamila Medley, Executive Director for the Philadelphia-Area Cooperative Alliance as well as a consultant with CDS Consulting Co-op, asks listeners "What are you doing?" Are we doing everything [...]