“A proper community, we should remember also, is a commonwealth: a place, a resource, an economy. It answers the needs, practical as well
as social and spiritual, of its members - among them the need to need one another.” Wendell Berry
CGIN ushered in 2012 with both resolve to ensure that the incredible resource that our members have built over the past fifteen years is
relevant and useful to our members and with a renewed commitment to better answer the changing needs of a co-op community that is itself
expanding to include new stakeholders, new cooperators, and new communities.
It was with that spirit that the CGIN Board and management held a two-day strategic planning retreat in January of this past year in Austin,
TX in an effort to broaden our thinking (everything is bigger in Texas!) and sharpen our organizational focus. We recognize that we are part
of a cooperative movement that is rapidly adapting to the challenges of the new millennium in a world increasingly and organically
networked through social media. We acknowledge that the quality of food co-op leadership and governance is improving through the support
and guidance of the CDS Consulting Co-op (CDSCC), that the competence of our management and staff is growing through the work of the
National Cooperative Grocers Association (NCGA), and that more resource and support is available to a new wave of emerging co-ops
through the Food Co-op Initiative (FCI). We believe that there’s an important role for CGIN to play in the larger food co-op community by
not just by doing what it is we’ve always done well, “provide for the facilitation of organic sharing” but by fulfilling that role better than we
ever have done so before. The Board set several strategic priorities at our January retreat:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Build the relationship between the Board and management
Facilitate organic sharing and collaboration
Acquire and integrate Cooperative Grocer into CGIN
Grow CGINʼ s membership
Continue to strengthen operational services and systems.
In the time since that January retreat, both the Board and management have been feverishly working to address changes needed at every
level in our organization in order to deliver more value to our members and to the food co-op sector. We’ve re-branded ourselves as the
Cooperative Grocer Network (CGN, still pronounced see-gin), acquired the Cooperative Grocer magazine through a generous gift from the
NCGA and have started the work of integrating the magazine into the new CGN, changed our bylaws to allow us to better grow our
membership base, committed to adopting Policy Governance and are working on our policies, increased our focus on networking and
building alliances with other organizations supporting food co-ops, and are making a larger investment in new co-op development and
supporting emerging co-ops in partnership with FCI. At our annual meeting at CCMA we offered a sneak preview of the new CGN site
complete with new and enhanced features and resources to better promote sharing among cooperators. We will debut the new site and new
resources for members very early in the New Year and can hardly contain our excitement for the new CGN!
In summary, we’ve spent much of the International Year of the Cooperative laying the foundation for CGN to be a more vital resource to a
growing food co-op community. With your support and participation we believe our best years are ahead of us. In service of the priorities
we’ve set for the organization and as stewards of the resource that you have built as members we are committing to a significant reinvestment
in CGN in the coming year. As a membership organization, that commitment is meaningless without your support and your contributions to
our commonwealth. In the coming months we will be asking you to help us create a new place for CGIN by increasing your own support and
investment. We’ll need increased attention early in 2013 as we launch the new site, migrate our list-serves to discussion groups, and take
advantage of the features of our new site to better foster sharing and collaboration. We’ll need more time spent helping us curate the
resources we’ve collected from you and adding new, up-to-date, and improved resources to our resource library. We’ll need increased
financial support through a new dues structure. And of course we’ll need patience, understanding, and plenty of the cooperative spirit as we
move from the 20th century platform we’ve operated with for most of CGIN’s history to a new platform that we believe will create richer and
more meaningful connections among cooperators, facilitate more sharing and resource development among co-ops, and ultimately deliver
more value to our members and to the food co-op movement.
Following the launch of our new site early next year, CGIN’s Board and management have dubbed the coming year as a “year of listening.”
We look forward to hearing from you how we can continue to address our member’s needs through the new CGN and create the needed space
for your needs of each other. We are grateful for your continued participation and support for CGIN and for each other, and we look forward
to working with you in 2013 to create a stronger food co-ops and a stronger food co-op community!