20 Years of CDS Highlights
The Common Cooperative Financial Statements (CoCoFiSt) program allows food co-ops to compare data and create best practices for a wide range of operational functions. The Food Co-op 500 (later renamed Food Co-op Initiative) program is [...]
Democracy in Cooperatives
By Michael Healy 118 May - June - 2005 Alexis de Tocqueville, in the first half of the 19th century, visited our still-wet-behind-the-ears nation and penned his famous treatise Democracy in America. In this book, [...]
Co-op as Store Becomes Co-op as Community
By Mark Goehring 117 March - April - 2005 We can no longer (verb)_____ in isolation. Try these verbs: Learn. Vision. Plan. Invest. Be. Then try your own! Nearly three years ago, the board of [...]
The Spirit of Generosity: Co-ops need to plant and nourish the seeds of future cooperation
By Bill Gessner 111 March - April - 2004 The collective progress in collaboration that the food co-op sector has achieved over the past decade has been significant and inspiring. “Cooperation among cooperatives,” through the [...]
Empowerment + Accountability = Success (and Fun)
In mission-based organizations like co-ops, the empowerment of individuals and groups is highly valued. For groups carrying out projects in such associations, organizational process is often as important as the outcome. Ideally, the co-op’s development [...]
The Ownership Toolbox
by Karen Zimbelman and Marilyn Scholl A Tool for Building Strong Co-op Membership Programs Any store can provide natural foods—just like any financial institution can provide checking accounts. Therefore, for a co-op, a strong supportive [...]
Helping Build a Thriving Future for Food Cooperatives
By Marilyn Scholl 102 September - October - 2002 Long before "just do it" became part of the American lexicon, the teenaged Homer Hickam, inspired by the launch of Sputnik in 1957 and fueled by [...]
Your New Store: Meeting First Year Challenges
By Bill Gessner 099 March - April - 2002 You have successfully navigated the stormy waters of a relocation/expansion project. Your co-op has proudly opened the new store amidst celebration, praise, relief, adrenaline and exhaustion. [...]