“By the gap I mean the gap between the hard realities around us and what we know is possible — not because we wish it were so, but because we’ve seen it with our own eyes.” Parker Palmer I’ve been thinking a lot about Parker Palmer and his writings on the gap over the past few weeks
Early last week, a bill, sponsored by Senate President Troy Jackson, was adopted in the last legislative session allowing loggers and logging truck drivers to organize into cooperatives. New England Loggers Cooperative, a new cooperative run by loggers and haulers, will reap these benefits via their agreement with a paper mill in Quebec! Their agreement
BIDDEFORD, MAINE—October 25, 2019—This Thursday at the 2019 Annual GrowSmart Maine Summit held in Biddeford, Maine members of the Charter Oaks Village resident owned community gathered to receive one of GrowSmart Maine’s honorary 2019 Smart Growth Awards. The theme of this year’s summit, “Smart Growth Builds Wellness,” featured regional and national leaders, panelists and presenters
Projects that can transform a community, from Millinocket to Arundel, were named “outstanding” in this year’s Smart Growth Awards from GrowSmart Maine, at the nonprofit advocacy group’s second annual summit. Congratulations to Charter Oaks Village Cooperative for winning this prestigious award, and to our NEROC team for making this happen. “The success of Charter Oaks brings positive attention
Update: This position is now closed. Thanks to all who applied! We appreciate you! As we continue to grow the New England Resident Owned Communities Program, we are looking for a new team member to join us in Vermont full-time. Affordable housing is crucial for people to lead stable, productive lives and stay out of
In 2012, Somali refugees started farm businesses, aided by an incubator farm program called the New American Sustainable Agriculture Project (NASAP). A few years later, CDI offered assistance to the Somali Bantu community to provide support and resources that aided their ability to eventually acquire a thirty-acre farm! CDI’s Director of Cooperative Food Systems, Jonah
Jonah Fertig-Burd, Cooperative Development Specialist with the Cooperative Food Systems program shared a SparkTalk at the Maine Association of Non-Profits Opt-In Conference at the start of October highlighting how co-ops connect across different regional communities in Maine.
At the NCBA CLUSA 2019 Impact conference, Cooperative Development Institute’s Director of Business Ownership Solutions program, Rob Brown, joined a dynamic panel and showcased CDI’s role in helping to establish a cooperative ecosystem in Maine. The panel, moderated by Cooperative Fund of New England’s Cooperative Business Support Officer, Carolyn Edsell-Vetter, who also serves as CDI’s Board
We are pleased to welcome Jasmine Jacobs, Victoria Rosen, Shana Siegel and Jacqueline Stuart as new team members at CDI. For more details about each of their backgrounds see the details below or visit our staff bios page. Welcome to the team! Jasmine Jacobs Jasmine Jacobs is a Communications and Development Specialist at CDI. She
On Saturday, October 5, 2019, the Vermont team of New England Resident Owned Communities (NEROC) hosted a half-day training for board and co-op members from seven VT ROC communities. Attendees were treated to a legal workshop with Steve Kantor, Esq., who covered topics including: processes for handling non-payment of rent and rule violations, dealing with
