Cooperative Development Institute: Northeast Center for Cooperative Business

The Portland Press Herald had an article yesterday by Avery Yale Kamila on Local Sprouts, the worker cooperative community supported kitchen and catering business that has now just opened a cafe. Dedicated patrons can become members of the cafe by paying for a subscription in advance and will benefit from a 10% discount on the breakfast, lunch, and dinner menu featuring organic, Maine-sourced food.

There are some great ideas being proposed at the "Revelation to Action" contest sponsored by Green Mountain Coffee and Ashoka's Changemakers. They want to find and help fund the most innovative ideas and organizations that strengthen and improve communities in Maine, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut and Massachusetts.

ACE and its partners are looking for a start-up CEO who will help us bring a worker-owned, community-accountable energy-services cooperative to fruition. We are looking for someone with solid business start-up experience, as well as expertise in energy-efficiency and experience working in lower-income communities and communities of color.
We need your help getting the word out!
If you know any good candidates, please share this with them and ask them to apply by December 15, 2009.

From the Center for Family Life newsletter:
The We Can Do It!/Sí Se Puede! Women's Cooperative was recognized at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus' 2009 Public Policy Conference, Latinos Leading in a Global Society. Cooperative members traveled to Washington to participate in the conference's closing session, where Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez highlighted the cooperative as an example of innovative Latino entrepreneurs in the green economy.

The Massachusetts Coalition for Healthy Communities is holding a Relocalization Conference Sunday, October 18, 2009, 9 a.m. - 6:30 p.m. in Roxbury, MA. The conference will include information, sharing, speakers, panel discussions, workshops, tabling, great local food, music,

A cooperative buzzes in Chicago -- a 100-hive apiary owned by members has been selling gourmet sweet honey and other bee products since the winter of 2003. Read about the Chicago Honey Co-op in this short Orion magazine piece by founder Michael Thompson. Then donate $5 to help them raise their own queen bees.