At the event, in addition to having member profile forms and feasibility studies for folks to fill out, we’ll have information to distribute and swag for sale. Many, many thanks to all of the people who have donated time, talents and funds to help us produce these items! Jumbars sponsored our first printing of brochures, which feature excellent photography by Ryan Hulvat, and PrintForce printed an excellent set for us at a great price. Rob-Win Press has generously provided our first set of business cards, which will be ready for pickup today. We’ll also have co-op t-shirts for sale, silk-screened and sponsored by Lehigh Valley Apparel Creations. We also made some co-op buttons for sale. WHEW. We’ve been busy! There’ll be pictures to come soon, as ART Productions has offered to take some product photos for us on Friday.

All of these items feature the new web address for the co-op website. New web address, you say? YES! Our Chief Technology Officer, Matty, has been working hard and has gotten us approval to use a .coop domain name! The domain name has been registered, and hosting has been purchased. Now, the site needs to be migrated to the new domain. Don’t worry, there will be an automatic redirect for everyone who visits the .org site, so no one will be lost along the way. In order to transition the site, there will need to be some site downtime beginning around 9pm tonight, lasting as long as a day or two. When the site returns, we’ll be live on the new URL and can start distributing all of the great materials we’ve produced!

Be excited, people. This is happening.

Where do these principles for co-ops come from? The 7 Principles of Co-Ops were determined in the 19th century as a group of weavers (this is where Weaver’s Way got their name) in Rochdale, England opened the first cooperative to provide “fair food at fair prices.” Inspired by the cooperators of Rochdale, the Cooperative Alliance approved the Rochdale Principles in 1995, to apply to all co-ops around the world:

1. Voluntary & Open Membership
2. Democratic Member Control
3. Member Economic Participation
4. Autonomy and Independence
5. Education, Training and Information
6. Cooperation Among Cooperatives
7. Concern for Community

This video provides a great history about the first co-op, the growth of the co-op movement, and the relevance co-ops have in the world:

You may have noticed a couple of new buttons across the top of this page—Member Profile and Feasibility Study. If you haven’t already, click on those links and fill out the surveys you find! Each of these surveys are helping us gather crucial data towards making our dream of a food co-op in Bethlehem possible.

The Member Profile is for any folks who are involved, or would like to be involved, with the co-op. It gathers some basic contact information and allows you to indicate what sort of talents and skills you bring to the table (trust us, there’s something for anyone to do).

The Feasibility Study is for anyone in the Lehigh Valley. This survey is anonymous and collects demographic data and information about your shopping habits that will be absolutely crucial to the writing of our business plan. We need responses from as many people as possible!

Please, take a moment to fill out each one, and send the Feasibility Study to your friends to fill out too! It’s a huge step in moving towards our goal.

If you missed the meeting but would like to participate in the business items we carried out:

• To volunteer for the Northside Bethlehem Clean Up on April 28, please email us for details
• If you are interested in possible volunteer opportunities at the Historic District Farmer’s Market from 11am-3pm on Tuesdays (May-October), email us .
• To order a t-shirt, email Amber to arrange up-front payment of $10-15 (sliding scale) by 3/30 for delivery at 4/19 meeting.
• To volunteer to write a co-op blog post, email us.
• To help research & write the business plan, email us.
• To fill out a member profile information form, click here.
• To fill out a feasibility study survey, click here.

Here are the notes from the March meeting (thanks to Kevin Marsh for acting as our scribe!):

Bethlehem Food Co-Op Meeting
Monday, March 22, 2012
Unitarian Universalist Church of the Lehigh Valley

In attendance: approximately 30 people

Steering Committee Report:

• Introduction of Preliminary Steering Committee
• Brian Bruno, Cathy Frankenberg, Meagan Grega, Robin Hampton, Emily Hoffert, Summre Inama, Jaime Karpovich, Colleen Marsh, Angela Means, Amber Ott, Eric Ruth, Matty Sarro, Jon Soden
• This is a provisional committee until paying members are established and a board can be elected
• If anyone else feels he or she should be serving on the provisional steering committee, please contact a steering committee member.
• Weaver’s Way Highlights
• You can see details here and here.
• Networking Notes
• Co-op is now Buy Fresh Buy Local Greater Lehigh Valley partner
• BFBL-GLV has generously donated this membership until we get off the ground
• Cathy & Colleen have had networking conversations with Doylestown & Ambler Co-Ops
• We have had preliminary contact with a few prospective lawyers/accountants
• Historic District Farmer’s Market
• Tuesdays from 11am-3pm, May-October, Sun Inn Courtyard
• Brian Bruno, organizer; DBA, managers
• Co-op will sponsor with manpower, volunteers will wear co-op t-shirts
• Co-op will have table with info at market
• Colleen & Cathy sitting on DBA market committee
• Volunteer interest form available
• .coop Domain
• We were advised to acquire a .coop domain name
• Matty has been researching eligibility
• Took collection of $118 to cover 1st year domain & hosting costs

Communications Committee Report: 

• Northside Cleanup & Earth Day Celebration
• April 28
• Cleanup: 9am-11am
• Earth Day Celebration: 11am-2pm
• Amber set up co-op involvement
• Co-op will have table with info & activities
• Cooperative cooperative banner
• Coloring sheets for children
• Brochures & business cards needed
• Printforce in Allentown will print brochures for 11 cents each if layout is received by 3/30
• Jumbars has offered to sponsor brochure printing
• T-Shirts
• Local screenprinter Lehigh Valley Apparel Creations will produce t-shirts at low cost
• T-shirts can be ordered for $10-15 (sliding scale)
• Must be paid up front
• Contact Amber to arrange order & upfront payment by 3/30 for delivery by 4/19 meeting
• Co-Op Blog
• Seeking writers to volunteer to provide blog posts
• Could be personal reflection, cooperative news, etc.
• Jaime & Penny volunteered to write
• Logo Vote
• 5 options presented
• Paper ballots cast
• Winner here

Planning Committee Report:

• Feasibility study presented
• Members present filled out paper copies
• Online version available here

Finance Committee Report:

• Bank account opened
• People’s First Credit Union
• Due to Patriot Act, only 2 people could be listed on account until co-op is incorporated
• Cathy & Jon
• Online advertising proposal
• Will approach farmer’s & local businesses about advertising on blog
• Pricing TBD based on web stats
• Cookbook fundraiser
• Cookbook committee has had 1 meeting
• Researching publisher
• Will be seeking recipes featuring local ingredients & recipe testers
• Business plan
• 6 sections plus appendix
1. Mission Statement
2. Define the Market
3. Detailed Product Info
4. Organization/Management
5. Marketing Strategy
6. Financial Management
• Appendix with publications & supporting documents
• Need volunteers to help research & write plan

Membership Committee Report:

• New committee chair needed
• Audrey volunteered & was accepted
• Committee will focus for now on canvassing, volunteering at community events, etc.

Other Business:

• Recurring meetings on 3rd Thursdays of each month
• 19-April, 17-May, 21-June, 19-July, 16-August

Our new logo!

Look for full meeting notes within the next couple of days!

This mural was on the side of the first location of the Seward Co-Op in Minneapolis

Tomorrow night (March 22) will be the fourth general meeting for the Bethlehem Food Co-Op, and man, it is going to be packed with progress! The meeting will be held at 7pm at the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Lehigh Valley (424 Center Street  Bethlehem, PA 18018).

At the meeting, we’ll be taking up a collection to fund the .coop domain name (it is about $120) AND we’ll have an order form for Bethlehem Food Co-Op t-shirts. For the t-shirts, we’ll need payment up front of $10-15 dollars, depending on what you can afford. So, please make sure you have cash on hand, if at all possible, for the meeting!

Also, if you have a Facebook account, please RSVP for the meeting here, so we have a rough idea of how many handouts to make.

Here’s a draft of the busy agenda for the meeting:

7:00pm: Welcome
7:05pm: Steering Committee Report

• Introduction of Steering Committee
• Weaver’s Way Visit
• Networking Notes
• Historic District Farmer’s Market
• .coop domain collection

7:20pm: Communications Committee Report

• Northside Clean Up & Earth Day Celebration
• Tshirts
• Brochures
• Bloggers?
• Official Logo Vote

7:35pm: Planning Committee Report

• Feasibility Study

7:50pm: Finance Committee Report

• Bank Account
• Online Advertising Proposal
• Cookbook
• Incorporation Progress
• Business Plan Progress

8:05pm: Membership Committee Report

• Membership Committee Leadership

8:20pm: Miscellaneous

• Member Profile Sheets
• Cleanup & Earth Day Signups
• Farmers Market Volunteer Interest Form
• T-Shirt Ordering
• Feasibility Study Questionairre
• Suggestion Box

Tell Your Representative And Senators to Support Co-ops! | South Philly Food Co-op.

Click on the small images below to see a tour of the Cherry Hill location:

Shopping bags in hand with General Manager Glenn!

We spent an hour picking the brains of several incredibly helpful gentlemen—Dean Stefano (store manager for the Chestnut Hill location), Rick Spalek (store manager for the Mt. Airy location), Glenn Bergmann (general manager) and Bob Noble (cooperative business development consultant for the Keystone Development Center). Sipping on organic, fair trade coffee around a conference table in a mural covered building that serves as the headquarters, we were overwhelmed by the generosity and willingness to share information. We filled pages with notes and came home with a stack of valuable resources including newsletters, magazines, a DVD, and a cookbook. We were even given some fabulous co-op buttons. The meeting filled our heads with a huge amount of information, much of which is still being distilled and will be filtered out as we form notes into thoughts and next steps. We were given many contact names and organizations to provide resources (including Keystone Development Center and National Cooperative Grocers Association). Also, we were given contact information for members of the fledgling Doylestown and Creekside Co-Ops, both of which are a couple of steps further in the process than us. The seasoned cooperators also suggested some next steps including formation of a steering committee, writing of by-laws, incorporation, and purchase of a .coop domain name. There will be more discussion of next steps at the March 22 meeting. And, the number one bit of advice we were given: DON’T RUSH.

co-op paraphernalia

After our minds were completely blown at the meeting, we headed next door to have a tour of the bustling Mt. Airy location with Rick. The cozy two-story space held more merchandise than imaginable, from bulk herbs to fresh produce to emu eggs to household products to gifts and toys! Click on the photos below for a “tour” of the Mt. Airy location. Part two will showcase the second location in Chestnut Hill!