Co-op News Round Up 7/29

🌹A new market place focused on worker-owned alternatives to corporate chains has a searchable database and specific suggestions for people looking to avoid buying products from certain companies.

🌹The Mid-Atlantic Food Co-op Alliance (MAFCA) announced their 2026 Fall Conference would take place on October 10th. The conference will be virtual this year and hosted by Fredericksburg Food Co-op.

🌹The University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives which hosts the annual CCMA conference is putting on a series of trainings focused on boards and governance. Check this link for more info and to register.

🌹The Blackberry Food Co-op in Cottage Grove, Oregon celebrated their grand opening on June 20th.

🌹A new paper by Sam Butler on the Democracy Policy Network outlines cooperative and group buying and gives a toolkit for communities looking to start a small scale buying club or business.

🌹The Caledonia Food Co-op in St Johnsbury, Vermont opened its doors on July 8th. The co-op began organizing in 2018 and purchased their building in 2024.

🌹The Bozeman Co-op in Montana announced the hiring of Interim General Manager Hanah McCarthy, their former Director of Finance. McCarthy replaces Rory Sandoval who served as General Manager since 2023.

🌹The National Cooperative Business Association has opened early bird pricing for the fall IMPACT conference in Washington, DC. The conference will be held Oct 7-8 and feature year 2 of the co-op Impact Film Fest.

🌹And lastly, as always, we commend an article from the Cooperative Grocer Magazine archives. This piece from 1989 about compensation evaluation for boards of directors by Karen Zimbelman is as relevant today as it was then.