Co-op Month Events
October is Co-op Month -- a time to celebrate and learn about cooperation, cooperatives, and cooperators. There are loads of great events, so mark your calendars and get ready to rock your co-op mojo.
In the Northeast:
October 1: Franklin Community Co-op's Co-op Month Kick-off! 3 pm-8 pm at Green Fields Market, Greenfield, MA.
Featuring a Live Broadcast by Monte Belmonte and WRSI 93.9, The Co-op Jazz Ensemble, Raffle Prizes, and Food & Refreshments.
October 9: CoopARTive Fiesta, Willimantic, CT, rain date Sunday Oct. 10.
Share your cooperative experiences at Co-op Cafes with Co-op Peer Teachers from PV Squared, Local Sprouts, Green Mountain Spinnery, Hartbeat Ensemble, Toxic Soil Busters, Green Worker Cooperatives, Willimantic Food Co-op, and local emerging cooperative members of the Willimantic Inter-Cooperative Community Hub. Enjoy and participate in art celebrating community, cooperation, and creativity on the sidewalk, along the bridges, in storefronts and in galleries.
October 14: Vermont Cooperative Summit: Building on the Power of Cooperatives, Burlington, VT
Register now to attend this second gathering of cooperators throughout Vermont. Join us as we grill the politicians, share our stories, and learn how to take our cooperatives to the next level through greater cooperation. The conference is a steal at $25 per person or a max of $75 for any number of people from one organization. CDI will be presenting a workshop on Growing the Cooperative Economy: Co-ops Seeding Co-ops, alongside stellar presenters from CFNE, NFCA, the Assoc of VT Credit Unions, Cabot Creamery, Univ of VT, NCBA, VT Law School, Saint Mary's Univ, the VEOC, and more.
October 15: Employee Ownership Workshop in Brattleboro, VT, 10 am - 12 pm
The free workshop will be held at the Marlboro College Graduate Center. The workshop will explore different models of employee ownership – including worker cooperatives – for companies that may be too small for an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). It’s primarily designed for companies with roughly 20 or fewer employees, though some of the ownership models can be applied to larger companies as well. Presenters include VEOC Executive Director Jon Crystal and attorney Steve Magowan. The workshop is co-sponsored by the VEOC, Vermont Small Business Development Center and the Marlboro College MBA in Managing for Sustainability. There is no registration fee, but advance registration is required. Attendees may register online, by phone at 802-861-6611, or by email at info@veoc.org.
All things Co-op & Maine
October 1: Faire Bande à Part Housing Cooperative (Faire-Op) will begin accepting applications for residential co-ownership of the Faire-Op cooperative house in Lewiston. Begun in 2008, Faire-Op resident owners wanted to collectively own and control their own property and make a greater commitment to the Lewiston community. All residents plan and budget for improvements, set rents, share chores, and even have weekly group meals. To apply for co-ownership of the building and live in a three-bedroom unit in Faire-op, contact Denise Dill, at faireop@gmail.com or 207-408-6036.
October 4: “The film “The Take” shown, 7 PM, Gates Auditorium, College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor. It is about the worker takeover and operation of an auto parts factory in Buenos Aires, Argentina. When the plant was shut down by owners, workers refused to leave and eventually began to run the plant themselves. The film will be followed by a discussion with Davis Taylor. The film is free and the public is invited. For more information: Davis Taylor, 207-801-5711 or davisftaylor@gmail.com
October 16: Information about the Falmouth Corner Co-op Preschool will be available at its benefit yard sale, 8 AM-1 PM at West Falmouth Baptist Church, 18 Mountain Rd., Falmouth. For more information: Shawna Jette, smjette@maine.rr.com
October 17-23: International Credit Union Week celebrated by Maine’s 65+ credit unions. From the Maine Credit Union League: Maine's credit unions, with more than 600,000 members, demonstrate the cooperative spirit, philosophy and values of co-ops every single day. By using a credit union, Maine consumers save $73 million annually through lower and fewer fees and better rates. Nearly all of Maine's credit unions will be celebrating International Credit Union Week. There will be special events and activities and opportunities for both existing members and potential new members to learn more about the benefits of using a financial cooperative. Culminating with International Credit Union Day on Thursday, October 21, many credit unions in Maine will be holding open houses, special promotions, giveaways and a variety of other free events and happenings. For more information, visit www.mainecreditunions.org or call Jon Paradise at the Maine Credit Union League, 1-800-442-6715.
October 20: “Right for These Times” is the theme of the showing of the film “Democracy in the Workplace: Three Worker-Owned Businesses in Action” and excerpts from a second film, “The Mondragon Experiment,” both shown at 6 PM at the Belfast Free Library, Belfast in conjunction with Co-op Month. The first film describes how workers have organized as a cooperative to operate their businesses; the second is a history of one of the world’s largest cooperatives, in the Basque region of Spain. A discussion about local cooperative development will follow the film. It is sponsored by Cooperative Maine, the Belfast Co-op Store, and the Peace and Justice Group of Waldo County. Contact Fran Clemetson, 207-338-2532 or education@belfast.coop.
October 22: FourthFridayFOODFILMS.com in Portland will have a special double feature of films about how cooperatives can help rebuild our local food system:
Reviving Renville: Vertically Integrated Co-ops - Renville, Minnesota was a rural town in decline until it began adopting cooperatives as a model to revive its agriculturally-based economy.
Food For Change: www.foodforchangemovie.com Food For Change is a work-in progress documentary film about the history of the cooperative movement in the United States and the present role that food co-ops play in the creation of regional food systems. The film is a call to action to expand the cooperative economic model and a response to large agri-businesses and giant retail chains' considerable efforts to gain control of the world’s food supply from the gene to the grocery shelf.
For more information, contact Ed Democracy, ed@portlandtenants.org.
Throughout October: Op-eds about Co-op Month will be published in various newspapers and publications throughout Maine. See below to
obtain a copy of the piece.
For more info about Co-op Month in Maine and beyond, e-mail cooperativemaine@gmail.com or call 207-801-5711 (Davis Taylor). Regionally and nationally, contacts are Noemi Giszpenc at Cooperative Development Institute, 1-877-NECOOPS or ngiszpenc@cdi.coop (regional, New England) or Carissa Heckathorn, checkathorn@ncba.coop (national Co-op Month).
National Events
October 9: The Race for Cooperative Development 5K, 8:30 am, Arlington VA
October is celebrated as Co-op Month across the country and the Washington, DC area cooperative community holds a 5K Race as part of its Co-op Month festivities. The Race will be held on Saturday, October 9th. The funds raised benefit the Cooperative Development Foundation (CDF), a 501(c)(3) non-profit that is based in Arlington, VA, whose work fosters cooperative growth and development. CDF engages in a lot of serious endeavors – such as raising public awareness about the cooperative business model, providing education/training grants for members of existing co-op boards, providing technical assistance grants to help new cooperatives get organized, as well as pre-development loans for cooperative housing initiatives. CDF also coordinates fundraising to enable the recovery of cooperatives in the aftermath of devastating natural disasters, including Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the South Asian Tsunami and the Haitian Earthquake.
It’s a good cause and it’s easy to make a tax-deductible online contribution! You can also support Team NCBA (Nothing Can Beat A Co-op) in their goal to win the fundraising trophy.
Just Beyond Co-op Month
November 5: Indiana Co-ops Building Connections
On Friday, November 5, 2010, coops from across Indiana will gather in Indianapolis for the fourth annual Indiana Cooperative Summit.
November 5 - 7: NASCO Institute: Cooperative Cartography: Where People, Places, and Movements Intersect, Ann Arbor, MI
The 2010 Cooperative Education and Training Institute will provide a space for cooperative members from all over Canada and the US to connect through the universal language of mapping. Mapping is an emerging process widely used to facilitate communication, share information, and build community--elements that are essential to building cooperation.