Ensuring Meaningful Elections
By Thane Joyal 175 November-December 2014 Within a consumer cooperative, the purpose of electing the board of directors from among the owners is to democratically control the co-op. All fiduciary responsibility for the cooperative rests [...]
Featured Co-op Cafe Video: The Co-op Difference Starts with Staff
Sean Doyle is the general manager of Seward Community Co-op, a rapidly growing food co-op in Minneapolis, MN. Doyle is an energetic advocate for staff empowerment, and in this video he makes the case [...]
Establish Platform for Strong Cooperative Direction through Board-GM Relationship
The relationship between the board and general manager is of paramount importance to any cooperative because both parties provide a connection to the co-op’s main constituency: owners. The co-op owners trust that their elected representatives [...]
Great Idea: Board President Succession Planning
Joe Marks had been the board president at the startup Monadnock Food Co-op in Keene, NH for three years. Marks had been instrumental in leading the co-op from its founding to operational governance. He’s [...]
Featured video: Building Belonging, Creating Community
People join co-ops to be a part of a community with shared values, and to belong to an association that enhances their well-being. Their sense of belonging is reinforced and grows when the co-op meets [...]
“Planning and Financial Budgeting” Monitoring Report Template
From September 2014 Our CBLD team recently updated our set of template policies (which you can find in “Sample Policies” section of the CBLD Library) to incorporate new learning and feedback from our client boards [...]
Development Timeline for Expansion Projects
This outline of development process will help you keep your project on track without forgetting any important step!