Continuing education is part of your Board of Director’s core beliefs. The 5th Cooperative Principle states that “Cooperatives provide education and training for members, elected representatives, managers and employees so they can contribute effectively to the development of their cooperative.” We are the elected representatives of your Co-op elected through our annual Board of Directors election and we are committed to fulfilling the 5th principle as it’s an essential part of how our Co-op operates
To meet these goals Board members are offered a wide range of training opportunities through a national consulting cooperative service that focuses on co-ops and other nonprofit organizations. This service offers a large library containing articles on topics such as: how to cultivate community; how to improve operations; workplace culture; and growing the business. Training is also offered through Zoom and in live settings. Some current sessions are: Board President’s Roundtable; Effective Meeting Facilitation; and All About Financial Statement Audits.
The Board also receives support and information from the National Co-op Grocers (NCG.) While our consultant group offers training in governance and policy. NCG’s support falls more on the grocery business side. This support includes an annual “trends report” that offers the Board members and management information based on research data from coops across the nation, as well as comparisons with the for-profit market. In general, these data show that our coop is among the top performing in the country as compared to other coops and for-profit stores. The report also alerts us to possible areas of risk, so that we can continue to meet the challenges of the marketplace and maintain our role as a positive contributor to the Monadnock community. Being proactive and maintaining a commitment to learning and growth is critical to our future, we hope you’ll join us on this journey!
In Cooperation,
Ed Selby
Secretary, Board of Directors, Monadnock Food Co-op
