At the October Member-Owner meeting of the Co-op, two new directors and one current director were voted onto the Board to serve you, the Member-Owners, for the next three years. The Board of Directors is charged with oversight and setting the direction of the Co-op for the future, a big job! So how do we help our new directors prepare for this responsibility?

Our Co-op subscribes to the services of a group of consultants called CDS (Cooperative Development Services). They offer programs in various locations around the country in Cooperative Board Leadership Development (CBLD) and fortunately the location for the New England States is right here at Keene State College.

On January 9th, our Board and some of the Co-op’s administrative staff will gather with other Co-ops from around New England for a day-long seminar. The day lays a strong foundation by covering these topics: cooperative principles, values & history of the co-op movement, legal roles and responsibilities, cooperative governance, and financial understanding using the balance sheet.  While this might sound rather dry and boring it’s actually very inspiring as over 150 people, with many years of experience, come together to share their collective wisdom.

Seminar attendees represent tens of thousands of Member-Owners of co-ops from around New England and are sharing information together in ways that strengthen the cooperative movement — by showing what works to compete in the increasingly competitive marketplace of natural & organic foods.

This is the Co-op Advantage, dynamic people coming together to meet their needs with the values of fairness and democracy guiding the business practices.