Twin Cities Host National Conference

Greetings from the Wedge Coop Board Directors! I hope everyone is enjoying our long overdue summer weather. A large contingent of Wedge Board members and staff were able to start the summer off in June by attending the 48th annual Consumer Cooperative Management Association Conference, hosted this year in Minneapolis by a group of Twin Cities food cooperatives, including the Wedge.

CCMA is an organization with a long history. It was created to bring visibility and strength to the cooperative movement, and has a reputation for being an invigorating and inspiring conference - a place for "co-opers" to appreciate and benefit from shared experience and expertise. This conference was no exception.

The theme of this year's conference was "Play it Again!," a continuation of the focus of last year's conference themes of stabilizing and unifying our U.S. food cooperative system, and strengthening our ties with each other. The subject of many of the speeches, open forums and seminars was on continuing to build a stronger, and more visible, national cooperative network, through the reorganization of the National Cooperative Grocer's Association and the continuing efforts to develop a national Co-op Brand. Additional seminar tracks included topics on competitive merchandising, business performance, workplace improvement, member services, and inspired board leadership.

Several local Co-ops were visited by conference attendees during bus excursions--dozens of food co-op staff and board members from around the nation got to tour the Wedge and experience first-hand the "magic" that makes your Co-op one of the most outstanding. And congratulations to Wedge staff members Christina Nicholson, Front End Manager, and Chris Kieser, Assistant Front End Manager, who presented a highly-rated and popular session on providing great customer service, reflecting the Wedge's national reputation in the co-op community for excellence in this area.

The conference also presented a truly inspirational talk by Dr. Michael Hartoonian, Professor of Education at the University of Minnesota, entitled "Creating Wealth in a 21st Century Market-Driven Republic: The Value of Cooperatives in a Democratic Society." During his speech, Michael reflected on the tension most citizens experience between the values of the free market and democratic principles, and why cooperative organizations such as the Wedge are best equipped to address this tension, while remaining true to the founding values of our republic.

Professor Hartoonian stressed that the economic foundation of our nation is encompassed in a phrase provided by John Adams in 1776-- "self-interest, properly understood," meaning that unless our free market is guided by ethical principles that encourage a common wealth, it won't work. Our own physical, spiritual, and economic well-being is a measure of the well-being of the community in which we live. We must understand that our own self-interest is forever tied to the interest of others in the community. This idea places cooperatives in a critical and important role in ensuring a successful future for our communities and local economies.

Note: In this issue of the Wedge newsletter, you'll see a focus on the upcoming fall elections for the Board of Directors and our Wedgeshare program. Remember, the Wedge is a cooperative founded on democratic principles, providing members the opportunity to participate in setting policy and making decisions by selecting the Board representatives charged with overseeing the future of this Co-op. As a member, make sure your voice becomes part of our own cooperative democracy by returning a completed ballot in the upcoming election.