Winter 2012 CooperationWorks! Newsletter

For news and information on co-op development centers throughout the U.S., see the Winter 2012 issue of NetWorks, the CooperationWorks! newsletter.

Cooperative Speaker Series at Southern NH University

Did you know that 2012 is the International Year of Cooperatives?

Perhaps you are asking yourself what is a cooperative. Cooperatives are a form of shared ownership in which a group of members share the risks and benefits of jointly owning a business. One of the larger cooperatives in the US and worldwide is located here in Manchester, CCA Global which you would recognize as Carpet One. Manchester is also home to the first credit union which is a consumer co-op, St. Mary’s Bank.

The Center for Cooperatives & CED is sponsoring a 3 part speaker series with business leaders and cooperative developers to discuss the cooperative business model. This series is cosponsored by the Faculty Center for Innovation and Excellence in Teaching. Join us to learn more about cooperatives in New England and about the cooperative business model.

Use this link to register for one, two or all three programs: Register now!

Wednesday, February 15, 3:30-4:45, Academic Building, Room 106
The opening session will introduce the cooperative model and discuss how it can be used to preserve existing firms and develop new ones with a cooperative business model. There will be two speakers:
• Newell Lessell, executive director of the ICA Group, will discuss the merits of the co-op model in retiring owner succession planning and conversions as well as in startups of new firms.
• Jonathan Halle (SNHU ’93) is the managing member of the Cooperative and an Architect with Warrenstreet Architects in Concord NH, an employee owned cooperative.

Wednesday, March 14, 3:30-4:45, Academic Building, Room 106
This session will have two speakers from prominent New England cooperatives:
• Howard Brodsky, Co-Founder, Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer of CCA Global and an SNHU trustee will discuss how he and his co-founder decided that a shared services cooperative of small business owners would be a better model than the franchise model.
• Roberta MacDonald, Sr Vice President of Marketing for Cabot Creamery will speak about Cabot’s cooperative advantage in marketing and the Cabot experience of cooperative ownership.

Wednesday, April 11, 3:30 – 4:45, Academic Building, Room 106
The final session will examine the experience of consumer ownership of cooperatives with two speakers from two of the finest national examples of consumer ownership in the US:
• Ron Covey (SNHU ’82), President and CEO of St. Mary’s Bank
• Terry Appleby, General Manager, Hanover Consumer Cooperative Society

Free NGFN Webinar Thursday: "It's Viable ... Now What? From Feasibility Study to Business Plan"

National Good Food Network Webinar
It's Viable ... Now What?
From Feasibility Study to Business Plan
Thursday, January 26
3:30 - 4:45pm ET
Free! Register Now

When considering creating a business, most often the first step is to conduct a feasibility study. Designed to establish if a business opportunity exists, a completed feasibility study does not determine how you intend to exploit that opportunity. That process, and eventual document, is the domain of the business plan.

This webinar will illustrate, by examples and discussion,how to move from a positive feasibility study to a full business plan, and financing the operation. We will have a food hub example, and a food processing center example. Our panelists have many years of business experience, so expect several other mini-examples to come up.

We have designed the presentation especially for those considering creating a new business in the food value chain, or involved in counseling those who do. As always, there will be time for questions for our panel.

This is webinar is in some ways a companion to our Sept. 30, 2010 webinar. Watch the recording of that webinar.

Reserve your spot - click here

Presenter
Carol Coren
Cornerstone Ventures

Presenter
John Waite
Franklin County Community Development Corporation

Presenter
Jim Epstein
Blue Ridge Produce

Copyright © 2012 Wallace Center at Winrock International, All rights reserved.

Manos Unidas faces demolition order

CDI has been working with Manos Unidas, a multi-cultural educational and social cooperative doing outreach to immigrants, youth, homeless, and others in the Pittsfield, MA area for several years. They have been struggling to raise funds to repair their beloved community center, which was damaged in a fire and condemned by the City. Now, at the last moment, they have obtained an angel investment, but the City is still planning to demolish the building on Monday, January 16.

Manos Unidas requests that people call Mayor Bianchi at 413-499-9321 or Meredith O'Leary and Dr. Phillip Adamo at 413-448-9742 to stay the demolition of their historic building. For more on the story, see this YNN, Your News Now broadcast: http://shar.es/WiVk7.

UPDATE: The City has given Manos Unidas one week to pull together the information needed. See http://www.berkshireeagle.com/ci_19803728.