Juneau Food Co-op Public Meeting
Greg Fisk
As indicated in my last email I have been working to set up a first public meeting on the food co-op idea, and am pleased to say we have a date, time, place and guest speaker all confirmed:
Northern Lights United Church
400 W. 11th
7:00 - 8:30 PM
Tuesday, May 11th
Our guest speaker will be Andrew Crow, cooperative expert from the University of Alaska. For those who may have missed the last message, I'm attaching Andrew's bio again below. He will have a powerpoint presentation on the basics of cooperative formation and will be there to answer our questions.
Hope to see you there. (BTW- Our Juneau Food Co-op listserv now has more than 40 members. If you want to be on that email list but aren't signed up yet, just send me an email and I'll get you onto the list)
Greg Fisk
BIOGRAPHICAL INFO ON ANDREW CROW
Andrew Crow manages the Alaska Cooperative Development Program at the University of Alaska Center for Economic Development (UACED) in Anchorage. He has worked on this program since its inception in 2007. The program is funded through a grant from the USDA and provides assistance to groups interested in forming cooperatives and to existing co-ops. It has worked with the Fairbanks Community Cooperative Market, the Sitka Food Co-op, the Alaska Oyster Cooperative, the Chanikik Wind Group, the Kenai Peninsula Peony Growers, and many other groups. ACDP provides general information about the cooperative business model, as well as technical assistance to help groups overcome specific challenges. Technical assistance ranges from help with feasibility studies and business plans to facilitation of meetings, to conducting research on specific topics, to establishing contacts with groups and specialists outside of Alaska.
Before the inception of the ACDP Mr. Crow worked as an attorney in Alaska and managed an aid programs in the Far East of Russia. One of the principal focuses of his work in Russia has been to promote economic development in the rural areas. Work in the remote northeastern areas of the Russian Federation require solving complex logistical and Operational problems as well as teaching Russian entrepreneurs to draft feasibility studies and business plans.
He has also worked as a commercial fisherman in Bristol Bay, served as an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer for the Lower Yukon Economic Development Council, and acted as staff for the Governor’s Commission on Rural Governance.