Under a theme of “Co-Creating the Future,” the annual conference for startup food co-ops, Up & Coming, will be held September 12–13 in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Up & Coming is sponsored by Food Co-op Initiative (FCI) and offers a solid program and a spirited gathering of co-op activists of many stripes. 

Included in the conference program are Columinate consultants Jade Barker, Don Moffitt, James Morrell, and Jeanie Wells, who will be presenting and networking among a broad national cohort of startup activists and professional advisors. Before the main conference, an extra half-day session on the 11th will focus on anti-racist training for food co-op organizers. 

The local host for Up & Coming 2025 is PFC Natural Grocery & Deli in Kalamazoo. Columinate is a lead conference sponsor, along with Frontier Co-op, INFRA, National Cooperative Bank, USDA, and CoBank, plus a dozen more supporting organizations. 

Columinate presenters 

Don Moffitt will lead a discussion on Funding: Understanding Potential Sources and Their Impact. From the program notes:  

Organizing, building, and opening a new food co-op grocery store takes a lot of financial resources. Funding to get the doors open might come from a variety of sources, and each can have very different impacts on your co-op’s financial feasibility and long-term sustainability. We’ll talk about equity, grants, preferred shares, loans from your co-op’s owners, institutional loans, landlord financing, local government support, and new market tax credits.  

Moffitt added: “I’m looking forward to this discussion with people at Up & Coming. One of the major impacts a steering committee can have on the co-op’s future financial performance is by finding ways to fund the opening that will reduce the ongoing yearly finance costs. I’ve been rewarded over the years sharing ideas and experience with the realists and idealists who are investing their time and energy building cooperatively owned and locally managed food options for their communities.”  

Jeanie Wells will present on Opening Strong & Staying Strong During the Tumultuous First Few Years 

The first years of a new co-op can feel like a roller coaster. We will talk about strategies to navigate that roller coaster and inoculate your co-op from typical pitfalls and challenges. This session is for any board members or newly hired GMs who want to strengthen your pre-opening oversight systems and ensure the organization has what it needs to assess and adjust performance and engagement strategies to meet its short-term and long-term impact goals.  

Wells added: “It is harder than ever to bring these stores forward through opening in such intensely competitive landscapes. Today’s stores need to exhibit excellence in retailing from day one. It’s a challenge to know how to prepare for that and to be able to assess and adjust once the store is open. I’m hoping—by talking through common challenges new co-ops face and working through some ways that co-op boards and new managers can set up good monitoring and oversight systems from the start—that we can help new co-ops open strong and be resilient through the twists and turns of the early years of operation.” 

James Morrell (Columinate) and Heather Lazickas (seven roots) will present on The Business Concept: Moving from Vision towards Feasibility. 

A clear business concept can build alignment amongst the team, attract talent and potential resources, and strengthen your organization’s community appeal. In this session, participants will explore the role of the “business concept” as a key element of the co-op startup framework:  how it may be different from a business plan, and why it is important. Join us as we break down what it is, how to use it, and how to develop or articulate yours! 

Morrell restated the intended focus: “How do start-up co-ops connect their vison and core values to their business plan, and make sure these aspects travel through the development process intact?” 

Jade Barker will present on Grocery Industry Basics — What You Need to Know 

What challenges does an independent grocery store face, and what makes financial sustainability so challenging? Come learn about the retail grocery landscape and the forces that make “affordable” prices so difficult to achieve. In this workshop, we’ll cover some broad national trends and review the co-op budget “pie” — the typical expenses of an operating food co-op. Knowledge is power. Be prepared. 

Barker added, “Many of the folks I support are woefully unaware of the enormous challenges of opening and operating a community-owned grocery store sustainably. And while it can be helpful to be optimistic, taking action without adequate knowledge is extremely risky. My goal is to equip cooperators with sufficient knowledge to be adequately prepared for the challenges ahead. I’m proud to be able to work with individuals who have a vision for a better world and are willing to put in the legwork to create it.