some other angles for Ludgate

[ari evergreen]

Hi, I also like the idea of helping Ludgate Farms to stay open in some
kind of community-oriented way, and would love to help make it happen,
if someone wants to try to steer this ship in that direction.

It seems to me that a business is most likely to succeed if it's
meeting pressing needs of the folks in the surrounding community. What
if Ludgate could offer (for small fees / work-trade):
- rentable community space for events and classes
- rentable certified kitchen that folks could use as a place to do
(semi-)professional canning
- workshops on food preservation
- even more canning / preservation supplies
- well-advertised farm stand space for folks with gardens and small
farms, so they can sell produce easily
- garden plots for those who don't have their own space for gardening
- gardening workshops for kids / families

Maybe if this shop made it a lot easier for all of us in the
surrounding area to feed ourselves more sustainably and affordably, it
would give folks a very good reason to contribute funds and labor to
keeping it open and functioning. (I would think - I know I'd
contribute!) Anyway, I just thought I'd throw these ideas out there.

I hope we can help keep Ludgate open - thanks to everyone for joining
the list and discussing this.
Peace
Ari

Ps. Just saw Kate's email so it sounds like these ideas aren't new
ones, but sending this anyway! :)

[Alex Colket]

yeah I love the idea of expanding the store's offerings beyond selling
food. I hear a lot of talk around town of the need for more access to
commercial kitchens and more opportunities to convert our raw
agricultural bounty into value-added products. All those other
suggestions sound great as well, particularly the comment about it
being most likely to succeed if it is designed to serve the needs of
the people around it.

Alex

[Katie Quinn-Jacobs]

Creating a fiscally viable* business where local farmers, food
processors and residents share in its success is critical, I think.
Whether this is achieved through a cooperative or non-profit or sole
proprietorship doesn't matter so much. They all have their advantages
and downsides. A cooperative would be better suited in terms of
sharing governance, risk and engendering a sense of common ownership,
but typically takes longer to form. A well capitalized sole
proprietorship has the advantage of being able to respond swiftly, but
won't encourage the community to see the business as their own; the
corporate us/them becomes a significant obstacle. A non-profit would
have the advantages of being able to organize more quickly than a
cooperative and raise capital spreading the risk and encouraging "buy
in".

We'd be willing to host a meeting at the store any night this week
after hours (7:30pm).

-- Kate

* This includes living wage for its workers and an environmentally
sound structure.

[kerra]

I know nothing about running a business and little about how a
cooperative works financially, so I don't know what I could do to help
at the beginning.
We moved to Dryden after living on our self sustaining homestead for
eight years and I've been teaching/hosting monthly garden and food
preservation classes ("Grow your Own!") at the Drdyen cafe since Feb
2011, co-founded the Dryden Community Garden in Feb 2010 with several
projects and classes going on there all along. If the people who know
how to save Ludgate manage to pull it off I'd love to help with
setting up community garden plots there, expanding our Grow your Own!
education, start something new, etc.

- Kerra

On Nov 29, 1:22 pm, ari evergreen <arimo...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Joe Marraffino]

Some more thoughts on reading these creative suggestions:

 - The store was already taking some super positive approaches to serve the homesteading and canning communities, so there are a lot of existing assets to build upon, and no need to reinvent the wheel.  In terms of market differentiation, it seemed positioned to do everyday bulk purchasing in way that other local groceries are not.  I'm not sure if there were any existing community education programs - Kate?  Any cross-over IthaCan events at the store?    

 - Given the kind of interest being expressed so far, socially-driven interest rather than consumer interest, it might be worthwhile to explore several organizations cooperating to consider at a buyout.  At the asking price, it might be easier to rally 8 organizations to contribute $55,000 than get 1760 individuals to contribute $250.  Organizations might also have the capacity to subsidize co-managing the enterprise if it fit into their existing mission.  It might also be from an organization that an organizing effort could be drawn, if individuals are not available for it. 

Joe
 

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[Leslie Strebel]

I am wondering if anyone has invited Greenstar into the conversation. I know they are making expansion plans, and obviously are already a successful coop. Their recent acquisition of the Space and launch of Greenstar Community Projects underscores their commitment to social as well as commercial initiatives. And they have funds as well as access to more funds.

[Shira Golding]

hi everyone,

since i posted my email yesterday, 38 people have joined the "save
ludgates" group - there is clearly community interest in keeping the
store going (perhaps in another form) and lots of compelling ideas are
already being proposed!

katie quinn-jacobs (one of the current ludgate farms owners) has
generously offered to host a meeting at the store after hours. this
seems like a great opportunity to meet each other face-to-face and see
what collective resources and interests we have.

i made a doodle with possible meeting times so we can find a day that
works best for the most people. please respond by the end of tomorrow
if you can:
http://www.doodle.com/fe8vf7dsccx95i87

- shira :)

Shira Golding Evergreen
shiraev...@gmail.com
http://www.shirari.com

[Shira Golding]

this is what seymour had to say about greenstar...