Inclusion: Starting from the Store
You can't have a conversation about inclusion without first expanding the circle and inviting everyone to the table. Prasanna Regmi, General Manager at Davis Food Co-op in Davis, CA talks about the work being done [...]
Co-op: Community Impact Amplifier
1 + 1 = 3 according to Dan Arnett, General Manager of Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op. The co-op can, through its interrelationships with the community, amplify the missions of all involved.
Keeping the Co-op at the Table
Co-op donation and local giving programs is sometimes not enough. In order for the cooperative to remain a central and key player in the local community it can sometimes mean getting involved in local government, [...]
Committing to Anti-Racism
The board of directors at People's Food Co-op in Kalamazoo, MI have committed to developing their awareness around racial equity. Board President Hether Frayer tells the Kzoo board story about how they ensconced their social [...]
Cooperation Fosters Deep Roots
Change can be uncomfortable. By discussing what we may be afraid of losing it can be a valuable process to get to being excited about what we might better, or more of. Chris Maher, General [...]
What ‘Everyone Welcome’ Means
The closing of a nearby neighborhood grocer presented what could have been a great sales boost for Whole Foods Co-op in Duluth, MN. But the neighbors weren't beating down the doors of WFD. Sarah Hanningan, [...]
Is Independence a Barrier to Cooperation?
As a result of the coalescing of the regional Co-op Grocers Associations into National Co+op Grocers GreenTree Co-op was able to undergo a transformational shift in their approach to operations and customer experience. Sarah Christensen, [...]
The Problem No One Wants to Talk About
A client, who I’ll call Mary, is the owner of a small natural foods store. A new bookkeeper had been on the job for several months before Mary studied the bank records and realized $15,000 [...]
Analysis of Board Members’ Conflicts of Interest
It’s very common for conflicts of interest to be present on the board of a retail food co-op. Some even joke that conflict management is at the heart of cooperation. And in a way, it’s [...]
Aiming for Continuous Communications Improvement
By Sarah Dahl 191 July-August 2017 No one is a perfect communicator, and no co-op experiences completely effective communication at all times. While some co-ops may do better than others—at least as reported in more than [...]