Thane Joyal

What does it mean to be an owner of a consumer cooperative? At the most fundamental level, cooperative ownership means that we are in business together.

Conflict happens. Co-ops have always faced conflict, whether in the boardroom, in member meetings, through social media and email, in the aisles or out in front of the store.

Successful cooperatives are guided by strong boards, and those boards rely on strong individuals to manage the cooperative’s business enterprise with excellence.

Whether or not your cooperative expects to hire a general manager (GM) in the next year, your board should have an awareness of the skills and resources that would be needed

Loss prevention is a key piece of the retail grocery business.

Why is it that some of our retail food cooperative boards really make a powerful difference in their communities, while others flounder?

As cooperative directors, it's important that we know our jobs. Some parts of that job are personal to us: we bring interests, skills, and perspectives that make our contributions unique.

“A vital question, a creative question, rivets our attention. All the creative power of our minds is focused on the question. Knowledge emerges in response to these compelling questions.