Co-op Meeting of April 22, 2009

The meeting began at 6:30 p.m. at the offices of Liberty Books, 75 Allison Street, Concord, NH 03301 (603) 223-0335.  Eight of us were present.

What is a Co-op?

Jack was the facilitator.  He discussed the concept of a "co-op" -- basically, an organization run by people cooperating for a purpose.  A co-op can be large or small and can be related to food, hobbies, selling goods or services or many other things.  REI is a co-op with over 3 million members and is the largest co-op in the country.  A book, "Cooperative Maine", catalogues the different types of co-ops in the State of Maine.

We are a food co-op to start with, but we can grow to cover other products and services.  It was discussed whether we wanted to form an organization or not.  Some people are presently members of a co-op in Deerfield.  All who were present voted to form an organization.

We have not decided yet whether to become a "private club" without regulatory constrictions by NH or to organize under NH RSA Chapter 301A, Consumer Cooperative Associations.  We will vote on that at an upcoming meeting.  The organization is not to have religious or political affiliations.  We all agreed on maintaining members' privacy and Jeremy volunteered to work on these issues from the computer and internet aspect.  We have not voted on a name yet.

We discussed what the purpose of the co-op was.  Did we want just to buy cheap items or buy quality items, such as organic foods, at a good price?  Most of us agreed that we were looking for quality items but cheap items sounded well, too.  One benefit of a food co-op is that members control the type of food and the quality of the food.  Jack brought samples of plastic containers big enough for 50 pounds of grain and suggested we could investigate these items as well as other non-food items.  Michelle added that there are "food grade" containers that have airtight seals suitable for food storage.  Treated with dry ice they can be sanitized before using.

Logistics

Michelle has had experience managing a food co-op and discussed many aspects of a co-op.  Her co-op had 65 members and all were working members who were committed to the cause and who actively worked for it.  Jobs were assigned on a rotating basis with respect to individual schedules.  The co-op was so successful that people were put on waiting lists to join.  The co-op did business out of a VFW hall which was volunteered by a generous Navy veteran and, after his death, the landlord, without having to pay rent or utilities.

Many items are needed which members would pay for.  These include scales for weighing, bags for dividing bulk foods into individual orders, gloves for sanitary reasons, scoops, etc.  In addition, there may be expenses for rent and utilities.

Structure; Officers

Jack discussed the need for some sort of structure both to operate the co-op and to resolve any disputes between members.  Michelle discussed that her co-op had a Board of Directors and discussed the various work members would do and identified the organization's designations of titles for each duty (such as an "Order Coordinator", which is a supplier's main contact).  Other titles her co-op had were "Meeting Secretary", "Membership Secretary", "Job coordinator", "Supplier Coordinator", "Treasurer" and "Assistant Order Coordinator".  Other possible titles the group discussed were "Education/Program Coordinator" and "Meeting Facilitator".  With the work divided it is less of a burden for all.  It was also discussed that many members would not want to work for the organization but simply buy items [i.e. "non-working" members].

Other co-ops charge a slight surcharge on orders if needed to pay for overhead expenses.  We do not want a situation where one person does 99% of the work and does not get fair compensation for the work.  We also acknowledged that computer research and other work should be acknowledged, at least to some degree.  Michelle mentioned that her co-op had a requirement that each member devote some time to working for the co-op.

We agreed that, for now, Jack would act as UNFI Coordinator, Michelle would act as Meeting Facilitator, Terry would act as Meeting Secretary and Jeremy would act as Computer Guy (working on security and other issues).  We want to appoint a Treasurer, a Supplier Coordinator, a Membership Secretary (Mark had expressed interest but was not present at the meeting) and an Education/Program Coordinator as needed in the future.

Education, Programs, Mentoring

The group also discussed speakers and other mentors who could address the group.  One in particular, a lady from Northfield ("In Joy Organics"), has already volunteered to visit and talk.  Michelle mentioned that her co-op traded food with a service co-op and received classes in canning, etc.

Suppliers

Michelle discussed the distributor UNFI (www.unfi.org).  UNFI has bought up most of the smaller distributors in the country.  UNFI, however, does not sell produce, meat or poultry.  UNFI has a warehouse in Chesterfield, NH.  Some of the suppliers to the co-op delivered items on pallets and others shipped them.  Some required a trip to their location for pick-up.  Michelle asked her old co-op if they would be willing to share their expertise with us and they are eager to do so.  She also discussed surpluses, or leftover items after members had picked up their orders.  These allowed members to try out an item without paying alot of money to do so.

Wendy brought a pamphlet from the Organic Farmers of NH (www.nofanh.org) listing several farmers across the state.  Jack provided the name and number of a NH farmer willing to sell organic eggs to us.

Ordering Dates; Volume Discounts

Michelle discussed that UNFI requires a schedule of delivery dates for an entire year.  Wendy suggested that we try ordering from the Deerfield Co-op for a short period to see if our group can be viable.  Good discounts occur only after orders reach a substantial amount; Michelle stated that in her co-op an order of $1,500 or more brought a 10% discount.

Location

Jim has volunteered, for now, his offices at Liberty Books for meetings and for deliveries.  Trucks can deposit pallets in his driveway.

Membership Area Coverage

The issue of what geographical are the co-op would cover was raised but not discussed.

Miscellaneous

Jack mentioned an online tracking system that could be of use.  He also discussed the possibility of printing flyers to distribute as a marketing tactic.

Jeremy mentioned that Centrix Bank would provide organizations with bank accounts if a name for the organization is registered.  However, registration would likely require that an individual be identified for the record as responsible for the account (e.g., John Smith "doing business as" or d/b/a the co-op).

Meetings

We discussed the best meeting day and time.  We decided to keep it at Wednesdays for now and keep the same time, to be revisited at the next meeting.  The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, April 29, 2009 at 6:30 p.m. at Liberty Books, 75 Allison Street, Concord.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m.