Co-op Cathy, Author at Cooperative Development Institute

The Cooperative Development Institute receives $589,974 from the USDA to support rural prosperity in Maine and the Northeast!

October 23, 2018 1 Comment

The Cooperative Development Institute (CDI), has recently been awarded three grants totaling $589,974, from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to support cooperative development in Maine and the Northeast. For 24 years, CDI has been the Northeast’s center for cooperative development helping 141 groups form cooperatives in the food, housing, and employee ownership sectors.

The Co-op Farming Model Might Help Save America’s Small Farms

October 23, 2018 No Comments

The Co-op Farming Model Might Help Save America’s Small Farms Amid a nationwide rise in worker-owned businesses of all types, small farms across the country are foregoing traditional farm ownership and reaping the benefits of cooperative farming. BY ANNELISE JOLLEY Business, FARMING Posted on: October 3, 2018 Across the U.S.—from New England to California—a small but

CDI adds new staff to our growing family! Welcome Katherine Bessey & Çaca Yvaire!!

October 23, 2018 No Comments

This is a particularly exciting Co-op Month for CDI as we welcome in two new staff members, bringing our team to 20 employees. CDI welcomes Katherine Bessey to our staff as our new Assistant Project Manager in the Cooperative Food Systems (CFS) and Business Ownership Solutions (BOS) programs. This is a new position for CDI

Over $400,000 in Public and Private Funds to Support Business Ownership Transitions in Rural Maine

October 23, 2018 No Comments

For Immediate Release October 23, 2018 Contact: Jen Peters – Assistant Director Sunrise County Economic Council, (207) 255-0983, scec@sunrisecounty.org Rob Brown – Director of Business Ownership Solutions Cooperative Development Institute, (207) 233-2987, rbrown@cdi.coop Over $400,000 in Public and Private Funds to Support Business Ownership Transitions in Rural Maine The Cooperative

In Lewiston, Somali Bantu refugees get in on the hot trend of food trucks

October 18, 2018 No Comments

They use ingredients they’ve grown at nearby farms for dishes that are both delicious and bittersweet. Article by the Portland Press Herald, October 17, by Mary Pols Isaak Gawo hands an order to a customer on Sunday. The Isuken Co-op truck has been making weekly trips to the Lewiston market. Most days though, it is

Summer of Advocacy by Resident Owned Communities: Finding our voices and making them heard

September 27, 2018 No Comments

By Jason Brady, NEROC Cooperative Development Specialist Resident owned communities (ROCs) face internal and external challenges to maintaining affordable housing for their members. When these challenges are political it can take ROC leaders into new territory. To better advocate for their interests, ROC leaders are getting proactive by talking with and building relationships with local

And NEROC is hiring again!

August 24, 2018 No Comments

We are bidding a fond farewell to Maureen Carroll Dennis, who is off to law school in the fall, and searching for our next team member. If you’re a group process guru, a real estate whiz, or a trainer extraordinaire, the New England Resident Owned Communities (NEROC) program wants you! Take a look at our

NEROC Adds a New Staff Person – Welcome Libby!

August 24, 2018 No Comments

We are pleased to welcome our newest staff member, Gillian (Libby) O’Flaherty, who joins the NEROC team in Western Massachusetts. Prior to joining CDI, Libby worked with the Prison Birth Project and Community Action’s Family Center, providing wrap-around care to high needs families in Franklin and Hampden counties, as well as the first point of

CDI’s NEROC Program Assists the Residents of Lakeview Mobile Home Park and Sets Them on the Path to Resident Ownership!

August 24, 2018 No Comments

The residents of Lakeview Mobile Home Park, in Shelburne, Vermont voted last month to form a cooperative, and with the assistance of CDI, Champlain Housing Trust and The Housing Foundation is now on the path to becoming the newest resident-owned community in the ROC USA Network, preserving 64 units of affordable, privately owned housing.

Localism Matters! Building Strong Resilient Local Economies

August 24, 2018 No Comments

CDI’s Cooperative Food Systems program helping to grow the local economy with New Americans in Lewiston, Maine, earns significant support from anonymous local donor! CDI’s Cooperative Food Systems program, led by Jonah Fertig-Burd and Omar Hassan, partnered with New American farmers to launch the first in the nation Somali Bantu Farm to Table food truck,

Co-op Cathy

The Cooperative Development Institute receives $589,974 from the USDA to support rural prosperity in Maine and the Northeast!

The Co-op Farming Model Might Help Save America’s Small Farms

CDI adds new staff to our growing family! Welcome Katherine Bessey & Çaca Yvaire!!

Over $400,000 in Public and Private Funds to Support Business Ownership Transitions in Rural Maine

In Lewiston, Somali Bantu refugees get in on the hot trend of food trucks

Summer of Advocacy by Resident Owned Communities: Finding our voices and making them heard

And NEROC is hiring again!

NEROC Adds a New Staff Person – Welcome Libby!

CDI’s NEROC Program Assists the Residents of Lakeview Mobile Home Park and Sets Them on the Path to Resident Ownership!

Localism Matters! Building Strong Resilient Local Economies

News & Updates

Eastern Garage Door becomes employee-owned cooperative after 100 years in business

Bangor residents purchase community for $8M, dozens of new affordable homes planned

CDI awarded $17.8M to repair failing water infrastructure for thousands of households

Vermont community takes on $2M septic crisis with the help of CDI’s WISP Program

Residents purchase manufactured home park for $26M, first deal of its kind in Maine

Brookfield Meadows becomes newest resident-owned community in Massachusetts

Co-op Cathy

News & Updates

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