Officer Elections and Board Leadership
It is a well-known fact that those people who most want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it… anyone who is capable of getting themselves made a [leader]… should on [...]
Responding to Employee Concerns
Co-op employees will at least occasionally bring complaints and concerns to the board or individual directors, yet the board itself is ill-suited for the task of handling these concerns. Employees deserve to have their concerns addressed [...]
Expanding Fresh Food Convenience
Eastside Food Co-op Minneapolis, MN Year founded: 2003 Member equity: $100 Number of members: 6,500 Number of employees: 100 Retail square feet: 9,500 Eastside Food Co-op in Minneapolis, Minn. had one of the highest sales [...]
Understanding the Meaning of “Speaking With One Voice”
By Michael Healy 189 March-April 2017 Boards of directors regularly struggle with the concept of “speaking with one voice”— primarily because the concept has a dual meaning. Within the context of Policy Governance, which many [...]
How to be an Effective Board President
What’s the difference between an excellent board president and a so-so one? Being an effective president requires a host of proficiencies, attributes and knowledge—it’s no easy job! A mix of people skills, the talent to [...]
Cooperative Ends, Impact, and Telling the Story
An individual member-owner or customer or vendor could probably describe how the co-op impacts their life: This is where I get the food that feeds my family. Or, I see all my friends here. Or, [...]
Updating Trends in General Manager Compensation
By Carolee Colter March-April 2017 View data by downloading attached PDF. Data from 104 co-ops with annual sales ranging from $1M to $74M In 2006 and 2011, this magazine published studies on general manager (GM) [...]
Food Co-ops Are on the Leading Edge
As director of Food Systems Initiatives for the Self-Help Credit Union, Steve Saltzman has a unique perspective on the work that is being done by food co-op sin communities throughout the region. And from where [...]
From Credit Union to Community: Stories of Impact
At the Local Government Federal Credit Union in Raleigh, NC Michael Spink has the enviable title of Innovation Strategist. In this brief video Michael shares a few stories of how the LGFCU is creating an [...]
Moving Forward Together
An historic proposal was floated among members of 3 Twin Cities food co-ops to merge their 3 distinct organizations into one co-op. Two of those co-ops chose to merge, in this video we get to [...]