Start-up cooperatives face tremendous challenges while on their long road—from foundational organizing to the establishment of a sustainable brick-and-mortar business delivering their mission to the communities they serve. We have seen that organizations can benefit greatly from the learnings of more seasoned businesses that have been on that journey.  

As the economic and cultural landscape shifts, the start-up cooperative movement continues to grow to meet real-world needs in communities throughout the U.S. Accordingly, cooperative support organizations such as Food Co-op Initiative (FCI) also continue to seek ways to connect co-op groups to resources, technical assistance, and engagement with experienced voices to help these new food co-ops on their way. Cooperative economics is a team endeavor, and we continue to explore collaborating in new ways.  

Recently, I had opportunity to participate in one of these collaborative efforts as part of the Food Co-op Development Framework editorial team for the FCI Action Guide. It has been a rewarding experience to work with a talented multi-organizational team, exploring how to offer start-ups practical guidance, providing access to recommended best practices and quality resources while leaving room for each organization to embrace its own path.  

The start-up “framework” conversation grew out of input and feedback from the extended co-op community: “How do we encourage strong organizational practices and sustainable business development, offering value while not being overly prescriptive? How do we leave room for innovation? How do we connect the start-up dreams to the physical means to deliver the cooperative impact? The food co-op development framework conversation explores these questions as we continue to develop our cooperative support practice. 

Here’s a summary from the FCI Action Guide – The Food Co-op Development Framework: 

The Co-op Development Framework was created to capture and outline universal best practices from the experiences of dozens of now-open startup food co-ops, as well as the expertise of dozens of food co-op professional and startup co-op support providers, that can serve as the foundation of any startup food co-op’s success. How those best practices are applied can take different forms based on different communities’ needs and goals. 

Read the full FCI document here.