Top 10 reasons to Think Local, Buy Local, Be Local - from Sustainable Connections

Given the food co-op emphasis on local food systems, I thought I'd share this fantastic list from Sustainable Connections, a Bellingham organization with an innovative approach to developing vibrant local living economies.

Ellensburg's KEEN - Kittitas Environmental Education Network - is of course doing some amazing things to promote the same sorts of initiatives as Sustainable Connections. Our food co-op will be tabling at KEEN's upcoming e3 Winter Fair on January 30th.

Top Ten reasons to Think Local - Buy Local - Be Local

1. Buy Local -- Support yourself: Several studies have shown that when you buy from an independent, locally owned business, rather than a nationally owned businesses, significantly more of your money is used to make purchases from other local businesses, service providers and farms -- continuing to strengthen the economic base of the community.(Click here to see summaries of a variety of economic impact studies; these include case studies showing that locally-owned businesses generate a premium in enhanced economic impact to the community and our tax base.)
2. Support community groups: Non-profit organizations receive an average 250% more support from smaller business owners than they do from large businesses.
3. Keep our community unique: Where we shop, where we eat and have fun -- all of it makes our community home. Our one-of-a-kind businesses are an integral part of the distinctive character of this place. Our tourism businesses also benefit. “When people go on vacation they generally seek out destinations that offer them the sense of being someplace, not just anyplace.” ~ Richard Moe, President, National Historic Preservation Trust
4. Reduce environmental impact: Locally owned businesses can make more local purchases requiring less transportation and generally set up shop in town or city centers as opposed to developing on the fringe. This generally means contributing less to sprawl, congestion, habitat loss and pollution.
5. Create more good jobs: Small local businesses are the largest employer nationally and in our community, provide the most jobs to residents.
6. Get better service: Local businesses often hire people with a better understanding of the products they are selling and take more time to get to know customers.
7. Invest in community: Local businesses are owned by people who live in this community, are less likely to leave, and are more invested in the community’s future.
8. Put your taxes to good use: Local businesses in town centers require comparatively little infrastructure investment and make more efficient use of public services as compared to nationally owned stores entering the community.
9. Buy what you want, not what someone wants you to buy: A marketplace of tens of thousands of small businesses is the best way to ensure innovation and low prices over the long-term. A multitude of small businesses, each selecting products based not on a national sales plan but on their own interests and the needs of their local customers, guarantees a much broader range of product choices.
10. Encourage local prosperity: A growing body of economic research shows that in an increasingly homogenized world, entrepreneurs and skilled workers are more likely to invest and settle in communities that preserve their one-of-a-kind businesses and distinctive character.

Think local first + Buy local when you can = Being a local!

Co-op Meeting TUESDAY Dec 1, 6-8pm, Ecumenical Church

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." -John Fitzgerald Kennedy

"Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving." -W.T. Purkiser

Hi everyone,

Are you still in your stretchy pants? Hope your Thanksgiving was lovely and full of gratitude.

Time to have our 3rd food co-op organizing meeting!
Tuesday, Dec 1 6-8pm
Ecumenical Church, 400 N Anderson (1/2 block behind Safeway)

Agenda is forthcoming...need to check in with our newly formed Steering Committee for some direction (bad pun. Sorry.).

In the meantime, here's what I propose we all prepare for:

1) a 5 min (or so) update from each group - Steering Committee, Consumer Members, Producers & Sourcing, and The Business End.

Where you at? What's next? Need help with anything? Got burning questions?

2) Collaboration on a timeline.

Ever made a timeline with post-it notes? I love doing it, and I think we could have fun working on this together if we're ready.

If you like, take a glance at this brief blog post from Creative Coaching about how and why a post-it timeline works:

Thanks all...see you soon!

Jess

Critical updates, volunteer opportunities, and outcomes from Nov 17 meeting

Another successful organizing meeting for creation of a food co-op in Ellensburg!

20+ people joined us on Tuesday night. We had fun, we were productive - but next time you're an hour late, Greg Parker, you owe us some Iron Horse beer.

Critical highlights/updates

• Our next meeting will be Tuesday, December 1, 6-8pm at the Ecumenical Church, 400 N Anderson (1/2 block behind Safeway). Everyone is welcome, so please come - and bring friends.
  
  
• Please post comments, questions, and ideas to the blog. I just modified the settings, and we want to see your ideas and questions. (Thanks, Dan B)
  
  
• We've broken out the work ahead into four different focus areas, and we have volunteers signed up to make it happen!
  

Read on to see where we're at with this - and if you want to help out with a particular project, inquire directly with the folks listed below.


Focus Areas for volunteer work



We spent about 30 minutes in a creative brainstorm - kind of a modified "world cafe". Everyone broke into 4 small groups, each with a different focus area to work on. We rotated once, so everyone had the chance to give input to 2 of the 4 focus areas. For each focus area, the questions we asked ourselves were: 1. What do we need to learn about for this, and how could we learn? 2. What resources do we already have, and what resources do we need to do this work? 3. What needs to happen in the next 3 months? By the end of the year? Before our next meeting on Dec 1?

Here are the results, in no particular order:

1. The Business End: incorporation and bylaws, fundraising/financing strategy

Volunteers:
Jim Baird (financing options)
**Jessie Alan, jessie.alan@gmail.com (articles of incorporation and bylaws, business plan outline)
Greg Parker (site selection and related budget/operational projections)
Zach Zink
Danny Arranaga (financing and startup budget)

Financing - member equity, member loans, business loans, corporate sponsorship, grants from foundations

Business plan

Jessie has experience; has a boilerplate outline

Membership structure

What data is needed to create the budget?

Find a pro-bono attorney for help with articles & bylaws.

2. Producers & Suppliers: local producers and additional sourcing options

Volunteers:
**Sam Albright, sam@quiltcut.com
Denise Horton
Dan Eldridge (farm lists)
Jenny Hansen (what questions do we need to ask our suppliers to judge if they're a good fit?)
Susi Lundquist (making contacts/relationship with Azure)

Who all is out there...survey, list, contact info

Who are our local producers?

farmer's market, current co-op (Susi and Matt, Wilson Creek), distributors, grower organizations, eat local directory

What do they have, when do they have it, how much, and current distribution method(s)

What is available locally, so that we know how regional we are

Can we get a consistent supply from the producer?

organic, fair trade

do we source from far away? Bananas, coffee, etc

food label ingredients - how "pure" are canned, processed foods

Need producer coordinator - responsible for calling growers and coordinating orders

Do we want to work with individual growers? Distributors?

Azure Standard (Matt and Susi Lundquist) - possible to get supply from them?

What is "local"? "regional"?

3. Consumer Members: learning who they are and what they need, outreach&recruitment

Volunteers:
**Gary Koch, garyocity@gmail.com
Joann Bennett
Stefanie Wickstrom (experience with survey design)
Dan Beck
Becky Pearson
Keyna Bugner
Sonja Wright (can help with the survey)
Jeff Hansen
Jen Zarnoch (can help "make things pretty" - design marketing/outreach pieces)

Goal: create survey participants. Online survey; hard-copy survey/canvassing; booth at farmers market

Newspapers: The Record, the Observer

Radio

Master Gardeners/Extension office

Farmers Market

Thursday @ Fair

Shrub Steppe Booth

Churches, church bulletins

Flyers - library, coffee shops, campus (Shape Up Kittitas County) (bi-lingual) (KCPH)

Generate a mailing list, starting with all the people at the co-op meeting

Create survey

CWU - check on class project potential. Grad student assistance?

Survey topics

Willingness to pay/join

"what would you pay for"...range of choices

what products would you want?...range of choices

Purchasing values

organic

local

vegan

gluten-free

bulk

vitamins?

animal food

4. Steering Committee: coordinating short-term activities, developing the 1-3 year strategy

Volunteers:
Dan Eldridge
**Dan Beck, heloderma@fairpoint.net
Danny Arranaga
Mike Williams
Jim Baird
Corey Wright
Gary Koch

Listening (is critical - listen to each other, the entire group, and all stakeholders.)

Big Picture (thinking - 40,000-ft view of how what we're doing now fits into the context of the whole)

Vision

Commitment (esp. of time)

Diversity/Flexibility (open to all points of view, able to make decisions to change course when necessary)

Prioritize 1,2,3 (know what's most important to focus on at the time)

Self-selecting members (totally voluntary; commitment, passion and resourcefulness are more important than experience)

Action Plan

Timelines

Delegate

REMINDER: Meeting tomorrow/Tuesday, 6-8 pm, Ecumenical Church

Hi everyone - are you ready? Our second meeting is tomorrow night!

Food Co-op meeting
Tue, Nov 17
6-8pm
400 N. Anderson (just a half-block behind Safeway store)

Rough agenda (still may be subject to a little tweaking/refining):

• 6-6:30:
  Revisit our ideas for desired attributes of an Ellensburg food co-op - framing them more as "values" than as "vision".
  A co-op exists solely to serve its members - what might this mean for us?
  
  
• 6:30 - 7:15:
  Creative brainstorm on focus areas/task forces - what goals and activities might we want to accomplish:
  -before our next meeting
  -by the end of the year
  -in time for other critical milestones?
  

• 7:25 - 8:00:
  Plan our next meeting
  Volunteer assignments for those who elect to take them!
  -steering committee members (3-5 people?)
  -focus area/task force leaders (3-4 people?)
  -project or assignment-based volunteering (as many as we can get!)
  
  

So much excitement around the food co-op idea...

Quick shout out to Lene, Deborah and Marte - new food co-op enthusiasts to add to our growing ranks! Great to meet you at Cascade Land Conservancy celebration last night. Help us spread the word, and come to our meeting next Tue night if you can.

Next Tue meeting time: 6:00-8:00pm.

Sorry - forgot to include this detail in my last post. :)

Meeting is:
-next Tuesday, Nov 17
-Ecumenical Church, 400 N Anderson (behind Safeway)
-6:00-8:00pm

thanks!

J

VENUE CHANGE - next Tuesday's meeting at Ecumenical Church

Hi everyone,

Hope you marked your calendars and you're planning to attend our next co-op meeting. We've been putting together some ideas for what we'll do together...and
it involves markers and post-its. I know - exciting!!!!

It turns out Hal Holmes was not available to us next Tuesday - they're booked solid.

So, next Tuesday we'll be meeting at the Ecumenical Church of Ellensburg instead:
400 N Anderson, 1/2 block behind Safeway.

If I'm not mistaken, the Vegetarian Society will be having their fabulous potluck right down the hall...so we can't be too rowdy. Maybe some of them will join us at some point?

If you could, please RSVP to me real quick via email (jessie.alan@gmail.com)...and bring your friends!

See you next week,

Jess

Pendleton, OR community co-op

This co-op is just a few steps ahead of us in their process, and roughly share some characteristics with Ellensburg - check out their blog:

http://pendletoncommunitycoop.wordpress.com/

Look at the post titled "To Move Forward or Not to Move Forward" in particular.

They got a grant to do a feasibility study, and they're about to conduct a community survey - sounds like the results of this survey will give them the information they need to decide "go/no go"...

Save the date: Next Meeting, Tue Nov 17, 6-8 pm, Hal Holmes Center

Agenda is forthcoming - if you have any ideas, please send them my way.

Initial thoughts:

First half
-I'd like to do some demographic/comparative market analysis between now and the next meeting. If I'm able to do it well, I'll share it in the first half of the meeting and we'll have some preliminary information about the market potential for a food co-op in Ellensburg.

We'll still want to talk directly to the community as well, of course, to get a feel for who will shop at the co-op and what they want.

I'm certain that this research is critical, both to the design of the co-op and to its financing, regardless of how small our store is or how minimal our startup costs.

-we can discuss/learn about another topic during the first half as well...any suggestions?

Second half
-As for the second half, what do you think about making it a working/brainstorming session? Small tables, each with a different topic/task area for starting the co-op...so we can really get the work rolling.

Ultimately, by the meetings' end, we should aim to have volunteer assignments for everyone who wants to help - tasks to complete before our next meeting.

Summary of our first meeting - plans for our next!

There were about 26 people at Hal Holmes last night for our first meeting - more, if you count all the incredibly patient and well-behaved kids that came with their parents!

Thanks, everyone - we did a great job. There was good conversation, everyone shared ideas and perspectives, and ultimately we made the commitment to have a next meeting on Tuesday, Nov 17 (same time and place, Hal Holmes Center from 6-8pm).

At the next meeting, our objectives will be to:

• have even more people in the room, including people who couldn't make the first meeting due to schedule conflicts.
  
• assemble a steering committee and get down to work!

More on this to follow.

Highlights from the first meeting
(by all means comment if I missed something or misinterpreted):

Ideas and desires for an Ellensburg food co-op:
Everyone was asked to share their "vision" for a food co-op. What's important? What might the co-op offer? No bad ideas, just brainstorming, putting everything out there.

-it should be a place that fosters community. A welcoming atmosphere, maybe a cafe. The location and its offerings should invite people to stay a while, relax, enjoy.

-Greg Parker shared that the deli at the Bozeman co-op (where he worked once upon a time) was wildly popular, one of the main profit centers for the store. Something to keep in mind for our co-op.

-support of local producers is paramount. The co-op should emphasize locally-sourced food, as well as organic/sustainably sourced...

-...but not to the detriment of sufficient selection. If the co-op doesn't provide enough of what customers want, it will lose business. Source from outside the region as well to supplement, and just choose carefully. Organic oranges from California are closer than oranges from Argentina!

-retail space: not too big (we don't need a PCC) but not too small (Matt and Suzi's garage won't do).

-quality food at a reasonable price, not cheap food

-unique items that will draw people in (will someone please make Dan Beck a decent bagel?)

-the energy and atmosphere of a farmer's market, available every day at the co-op.

-member-worker opportunities. volunteer labor in exchange for discounts on food - this might be especially appealing to college students.

-community outreach - actively teaching the community about good food, our local food system, and health

-classes - interesting and fun educational opportunities, workshops, presentations, how-to

-engage the Latino community

How we'll move forward
In the second half of the meeting, we reviewed a Food Co-op 500 framework for getting organized, and started talking a bit about what our steering committee could do when it forms and starts work.

We will be forming a steering committee at the next meeting, and getting down to work!

Some ideas for work to be done included:

-find a mentor co-op that had a startup process similar to what we think ours might be: starting simple and small. This could involve a field trip to visit food co-ops, or bringing someone to Ellensburg to meet with us.

-host events to create more awareness of the co-op and recruit future members

-"field recruit" on campus, at related events like the farmer's market, etc with a petition or a pledge to buy membership when the co-op becomes incorporated

-conducting an informal survey/scanning the community to determine who our customers are and how many there might be, what they might want, and willingness to pay

-research incorporation and decide how we want to incorporate

-research the best practices and potential pitfalls of having member-workers

-research site selection - pros and cons of different locations, building types, leasing v. buying, etc

Many thanks to all who pitched in with treats, information and meeting moderation...and many thanks again to all for coming. See you again soon.

Who can "represent our co-op" at the Tilth Producers 2009 Conference in Yakima?

Organic and Sustainable: the 2009 Tilth Producers Conference

Sat-Sun Nov 14-15 at the Yakima Valley Convention Center

Is anybody going? It would be great to have someone there who can talk about the co-op, gather information, network and report back.

The $140 registration is a little steep for me personally; not sure what to do about that. I really want to go and might try to work something out...

There are some interesting items on the agenda, and more importantly I bet there will be some very interesting people in attendance!

A couple sessions of interest (to me, anyway):

B5 What do Produce Retailers Want?

-C5 Merchandising and Marketing for Farmers Markets and Farm Stands

D5 Innovative Marketing Cooperatives (presented by Eric Bowman of the Northwest Co-op Development Center)

AGENDA for tonight's meeting

A Food Co-op for Ellensburg
Wednesday, Nov 4 6-8pm
Hal Holmes Center
-agenda-

Sign in

(20 min) Welcome and introductions

(5 min) Purpose of meeting

(5 min) Seven Co-operative Principles

(10 min) a few examples of food co-op startups and evolutions

(30 min) vision for a food co-op in Ellensburg

7:10 -break-

(10 min) organizing a food co-op - the Food Co-op 500 model as an example

(30 min) determine our next steps

Should we plan a next meeting, to organize a steering committee/founding team?

If so:
-what tasks might this team focus on during the next ~6 months
-what time and resource commitments might be needed from team members, ex. frequency of meetings, #volunteer hours, specific skills
-what might we do next to recruit more potential founding team members

Who's coming to Wed's meeting... you should come, too!

Here's who we have on board thus far:

Dan Beck
Gary Koch
Stefanie Wickstrom
Rex Wirth
Colleen Donovan
Mollie Edson
Robin Read-Ochoa
Dean DeCrease
Denise Horton
Jim Baird
Cynthia Murray
Paula MacKay
Rob Long
Daniel Arranaga
Jessie Alan
Tony Peters
Richard Gallagher
Howard Lyman

Looks like a great group! The more the merrier, so if someone is missing from this list - including yourself - by all means get them on it.

Again, the details:
Exploratory meeting - a food co-op for Ellensburg
Wednesday, Nov 4
6:00 - 8:00pm
Hal Holmes Center

We'll use this time together to explore some different food co-op models that may serve as options for Ellensburg, discuss what needs to happen next if we're going to move forward, and then pin down our next steps.

See you soon!