Greetings Co-operators,
June is just around the corner!
We are looking forward to welcoming you to CCMA 2016: Disrupting the Future – Cooperative Food in the Next Generation. This national food co-op conference will be hosted by the Neighboring Food Co-op Association (NFCA), with Franklin Community Co-op and River Valley Co-op as primary local hosts, and will take place June 9-11, 2016, at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, MA in the heart of “Co-op Valley!”
For more information on the conference, visit: http://ncba.coop/ccma-2016-conference
The NFCA is very excited to be hosting CCMA, with Franklin Community Co-op and River Valley Co-op as primary local hosts. This is the first time the conference has been held in New England in many years and is a unique opportunity to dialogue, collaborate, and plan with other general managers, board members, and staff of food co-ops nationwide.
We are excited to kick off the confernece with four Co-op Bus Tours on Thursday, June 9. And, we look forward to hosting a Saturday Night “Co-op Valley” closing party featuring local food and drink, great music, bocce and hula hooping, and plenty of time for networking with your favorite co-operators!
The 2016 CCMA Conference Agenda will challenge and inspire food sector leadership to address diversity and inclusion and make the case for a radical shift in thinking for food co-ops to differentiate themselves in an increasingly competitive natural foods marketplace. Session tracks include:
- Strategies for Outdistancing the Competition
- Succession Planning and Leadership Development
- 2020 and Beyond: New Approaches to Co-operation
- Participatory Governance for Success
- Financing the Co-op Future
- Social, Economic and Racial Diversity
The town of Amherst, our conference site for 2016, is nestled in the heart of “Co-op Valley” in Western Massachusetts. The region is home to our local host food co-ops, NFCA members Franklin Community Co-op and River Valley Co-op, as well as a diverse community of co-operatives and credit unions that reaches across sectors, many of which are working together to grow the co-operative economy. The University of Massachusetts, Amherst, is also home to a system of student-run co-operative businesses and the Department of Economics offers an undergraduate Certificate in Applied Research in Co-operative Enterprises, in collaboration with local co-op associations. The Campus Center is named for Murray Lincoln, UMASS alum, founder of Nationwide Insurance (a mutual enterprise), and member of the Co-operative Hall of Fame; and the campus library is named for W.E.B. DuBois, African American Scholar, co-founder of the NAACP and promoter of co-operative enterprise as a tool for economic empowerment.
It’s going to be a great conference, and we can’t wait to see you there!
Erbin Crowell, Executive Director
Bonnie Hudspeth, Member Programs Manager
CCMA 2016 Local Host Committee
Suzette Snow Cobb, Franklin Community Co-op Andrea Stanley, River Valley Co-op
Emma Sabella, New England Farmers Union Natasha Latour, River Valley Co-op
Sarah Kanabay, Franklin Community Co-op Adam Trott, Valley Alliance of Worker Co-ops