Happy March!
Our Cooperative Resilience P6 Conference is just around the corner! We have a great program mapped out for you including an inspiring keynote speaker and a great post keynote panel, two workshop blocks full of valuable learning opportunities, and a celebration of midcoast co-ops! Lunch and Coffee are complementary!
The conference is on April 2nd, 2022 at the Hutchinson Center in Belfast! Find out more below!
There is more than P6 Conference information in this newsletter! Read on for some uplifting Maine co-op news, other upcoming events, and highlighted inhouse resources.
Be well!
Emmy Andersson
Network Coordinator
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THE PRINCIPLE SIX CONFERENCE RETURNS ON APRIL 2, 2022
Get your ticket today!
〰️ COOPERATIVE RESILIENCE 〰️
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The conference offers a great mix of celebration, inspirational stories, networking and learning opportunities. Our keynote speaker is Christine Hallquist, former CEO of Vermont Electric Cooperative (find out more about her below).
She will be followed by a post-keynote panel discussion focused on community owned utilities and cooperative resilience, moderated by Alex Zipparo (Island Institute). Panelists include Rep. Seth Berry, Rep. Morgan Rielly, Vaughan Woodruff (RevisonEnergy), and Scott Vlaun (CEBE). We will also offer a morning celebration of our midcoast co-ops and two afternoon workshop blocks:
Workshop Block 1
- Governance – Simplifying our Democratic Practices
- Community Owned Solar
- Housing Co-ops - A Solution for Maine’s Affordability Crisis
Workshop Block 2
- Co-op Financials – How to communicate financial information effectively
- Capital Improvement Planning for Co-ops
- Cooperative Tech to Scale your Business and Support your Community
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The conference is sponsored by Maine DECD, who is supporting Equitable Access to this year’s conference as well as a Host Committee including the Cooperative Development Institute, Rising Tide Co-op, Portland Food Co-op, Blue Hill Co-op, Cooperative Fund of Northeast, Belfast Co-op, Bangor Savings Bank, Columinate, Fedco, MOFGA, Rock City Coffee and the Democracy at Work Institute. Additional sponsors arw Town & Country FCU, Maine Farmers and Gardeners Association, and the Island Institute along with Community Credit Union and Fare Share Food Cooperative.
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Principle Six, one of seven cooperative principles, focuses on cooperation among cooperatives. This conference provides the opportunity for Maine cooperatives to join forces in building a strong cooperative economy in Maine. It will help staff, management, and boards build business and governing skills. It will also provide attendees with a networking platform, highlight advocacy efforts and opportunities, and bring cooperators together to celebrate the great work that co-ops in Maine are doing.
Equitable Access. We are providing interpretation and transportation services based on need and level of request from groups. Please reach out if you are in need of these services.
Register for the conference HERE, visit www.maine.coop/events or contact Emmy Andersson by emailing em...@maine.coop.
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2022 P6 Keynote Speaker Christine Hallquist
Christine Hallquist is an inspirational cooperative leader. She was the CEO of Vermont Electric Cooperative for 20 years, resigned to run for Governor of VT in 2018, and is currently the Executive Director of the Vermont Community Broadband Board (VCBB).
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Meet her briefly in the trailer of the documentary Denial below or watch the full documentary HERE.
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Trailer of the documentary DENIAL - featuring Christine Hallquist
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Liberty t-shirt maker designs shirts to benefit Ukraine
LIBERTY, Maine (WABI) - A local t-shirt maker is designing limited edition shirts to benefit Ukraine.
Liberty Graphics designed a new shirt earlier this year printed with a sunflower. Before releasing them and after witnessing the Russian invasion of Urkaine, they later learned that the Sunflower is the national flower of Ukraine.
They say it has become a symbol of peace world wide and are selling these shirts throughout the month of March.
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New Roots Cooperative Farm CSA Sign-up! - Don't miss out!
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New Roots have a total of 250 CSA shares available this season. They sell out fast, so make sure to sign up asap!
New Roots offers fresh local vegetables for people in Southern Maine through their Community Supported Agriculture program. They are cooperatively owned and produce healthy fruits and vegetables by caring for the land, farming without the use of chemicals.
Image: Mohamed Abukar harvesting in the fields
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New Roots Cooperative Farm purchases farmland
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In January 2021, Jabril Abdi, Mohamed Abukar, Batula Ismail, and Seynab Ali, the four farmers of New Roots Cooperative Farm in Lewiston, purchased the 30-acre former dairy farm that New Roots has been leasing for the past five years.
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Consumer-owned utility could save Mainers a lot of money on their electricity
More than 50,000 Mainers have signed a petition to allow customers to own their utility. They want to replace our failing approach to electricity transmission with a better model. They are watching closely as the Legislature considers LD 1959, An Act To Ensure Transmission and Distribution Utility Accountability.
Bangor Daily News - March 7, 2022 |
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Meet Wheelers Insurance's new CEO
Mike Newsom, former CEO of Wheelers, has now passed the torch to Michelle Walker to lead this worker-owned insurance company.
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Looking for catering? - Consider Isuken Co-op!
Isuken is a worker-owned cooperative with the five members and their families sharing equally in the responsibilities and rewards of the business.
Catering Menu:
Sambusas: 10 for $33.33, Sambusas are an Eastern African fried pastry with a thin flaky dough stuff with your choice of mix of meat, fish and veggies (or completely vegan)
- Chicken: Chicken, carrots, green beans, corn, green peppers, onions, cilantro, scallions, garlic, hot peppers DF
- Veggie: Carrots, peas, scallions, corn, onions, potatoes, hot peppers, cilantro, spices DF V
- Beef: Beef, onions, potatoes, corn, peas, carrots, scallions, hot peppers, cilantro, garlic, and spices DF
- Fish: Fish, carrots, corn, green beans, green peppers, onions, cilantro, scallions, garlic, hot peppers DF
Somali Salad $30 for 10 servings, Locally green grown greens and veggies with your choice of dressing
Vegetable Stew and Injera, $49.50 for 10 servings Hearty vegetable stew with traditional sourdough flatbread, and rice Chicken or Beef Stew add $15
For more info on their food truck and catering menus go to https://isukencoop.com/our-food/
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Did you see this article last month? 👇
How to Save Jobs and Build Back Better: Employee Ownership Transitions as a Key to an Equitable Economic Recovery
By Rob Brown of the Cooperative Development Institute
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Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Maine was already on the leading edge of what was termed the “silver tsunami,” the looming retirement of aging business owners with no real plan for how to exit their businesses. While half of business owners nationally are over age 50, in rural regions such as Maine, nearly half are over 60. Fewer than one in five business owners have a documented exit plan, and most don’t understand the process or options. Rob Brown examines the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on this issue and argues that helping businesses transition to employee ownership will be good for workers, owners, and Maine's economy in general.
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CFNE has rebranded!
Read their statement below.
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The Cooperative Fund of New England is now the Cooperative Fund of the Northeast! We worked with Collectiveffort ( www.collectiveeffort.co) of Troy, NY, on a process to refine and elevate the CFNE brand, reflecting our service and commitment to co-ops across the northeast. Through brand research exercises and facilitated discussions, Collectiveffort designed a refreshed take on CFNE’s successful history, leaning into a simple and clean aesthetic to represent CFNE’s core values of Equity, Sustainability and Integrity and to reflect the fact that we have deepened our work outside of New England by hiring two New York staff members last year, Johan Matthews and Joe Marraffino.
While our name is changing, many things are not, including 1) our mission,2) our commitment to supporting co-ops and communities in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, and 3) our model of geographically based loan officers. Also, this name change will not require changes to existing loan documents for either borrowers or investors, nor will it require a change to our emails, web URL, or acronym CFNE. Check out our new website at the same URL: https://cooperativefund.org/. |
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Organic Valley co-op offers membership to 80 Northeast farms slated to lose market
An international organic milk cooperative is offering membership to 80 small organic farms in the Northeast that were poised to lose the market for their milk, Wisconsin-based Organic Valley cooperative announced Tuesday...
Last summer, Danone, the parent company of Horizon Organic, announced it would stop buying milk from 28 farms in Vermont and a total of 61 in Maine, New Hampshire and New York. The deadline was originally set for August, but it was later extended to February 2023.
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Sunrise County Economic Council is offering a Broadband Boot Camp!
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Past sessions:
Digital Equity and Literacy - Feb 24 (10am -12pm)
Community Engagement - Mar 3 (10am -12pm)
Meet your ISPs - Mar 17 (10am -12pm)
Upcoming sessions:
Cooperatively/Municipally owned broadband - Mar 24 (10am -12pm) REGISTER HERE
Funding Sources - Apr 14 (10am -12pm) REGISTER HERE
For more info, email broa...@sunrisecounty.org
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P5 Learning Series in Review: Openbook Management
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