It has been an honor to represent you on the Franklin Community Co-op Board of Directors over the past decade. It’s been an additional honor for the past year to also serve (as the only Massachusetts representative) on the Board of the Neighboring Food Co-op Association.
Formed in 2011, NFCA is a regional cooperative of over 40 food co-ops and start-ups in New England and New York – a co-op of co-ops, created in the true spirit of Cooperative Principle #6: “cooperation among cooperatives.” It’s also notable that this organization is unique in the U.S.
NFCA member co-ops have 185,000 member-owners, employ 2,545 people (60% of whom are also member-owners), and in 2023 generated revenue of $442.5M, with local products comprising 27% of sales (vs. less than 5% at conventional supermarkets). NFCA activities include peer networking events for Board members and staff, trainings via the International Centre for Cooperative Management at St. Mary’s University in Halifax, supporting a cooperative business certificate program at UMass, regional food system projects, and policy advocacy (in collaboration with the Congressional Cooperative Business Caucus).
Read the whole article by Board Member George Touloumtzis in the spring edition of The New Beet.