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| Terre Foods Membership Newsletter
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Total Membership
Terre Foods Member-Owners now total 61! Thanks go to each and every one of you for your enthusiasm about our project and willingness to help get it started. When our store finally opens its doors, you will know it was your ownership that made it possible. We will keep moving on our Membership Drive, so spread the word!
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 Welcome to Membership!
And welcome to the first issue of our membership newsletter. This newsletter will come out periodically, to give you details of where your co-op is in its startup process, as well as events and activities that the co-op will sponsor. We hope you enjoy this first edition. Of particular note, we will be having an All-Membership Potluck and Visioning session on January 17th from 1pm-3pm. See below for further details!
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All-Membership Potluck & Visioning Session
Your Steering Committee has now commissioned a market study for the co-op (more on that below). Part of this study will include finding out what our membership wants out of its co-op; the study will then look specifically at what parts of our dreams are possible, what parts will have to be put on hold, and what parts should be pursued immediately. As members, your input into this process will be crucial. Remember, this is now your store!
Please plan to attend our All-Membership Potluck on January 17th to participate in this process. This will be a chance to meet your other fellow member-owners and find out what we, as a community, want out of our store.
Event: All-Member Potluck
Date: Saturday, Jan 17th, 2009
Time: 1pm-3pm
Place: First Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Terre Haute, 1875 Fruitridge Avenue (about 4 blocks south of the intersection of Poplar and Fruitridge Ave.)
Contact: robyn@terrefoods.org with questions
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Market Study is a go!
As you probably know, Terre Foods now has enough members to commission
a professional market study, which is the first Really Big Step in
starting our store. The market study will form the basis for all the
other decision yet to be made, including the groundwork for our
business plan and pro-forma budget, which is part of the documentation
required for acquiring financing. We have chosen market consultant
Debbie Suassuna from Cooperative Development Services to do the study;
we expect her site visit to be sometime in February, and the completed
study to be done in March.
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New Collaborations!
We are happy to announce two new collaborative efforts between the Terre Foods Co-op and Indiana State University. First, Terre Foods will be participating in the College of Business capstone class. We will have a team of senior Business majors working with us to develop a strategic and business plan for our startup. These plans will be created relying heavily on the market study, and will become part of our financing package. This collaboration will provide us with much-needed expertise in creating these documents, and will provide the students with real-world experience in helping a business get on its feet. The program is directed by Dr. Art Sherwood--we are grateful to him for inviting us to this program.
Second, we will also be participating in the Public Relations capstone class. Similarly to the Business collaboration, we will have assigned to us a team of senior Public Relations majors who will work with us on creating a solid marketing campaign. Our efforts this semester will likely center on our Membership Drive, and soon on a Member Loan program, once a site for our co-op has been selected. This program is directed by Dr. Debra Worley, to whom we also extend our sincere thanks.
The Steering Committee is looking forward to beginning these collaborations and the good things that will come from everyone's work!
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Board Business
The first Terre Foods Board of Directors meeting will be held on Jan. 20th at 7:30pm in the HMSU. We will be working on our initial plans for how the Board will function, and setting up a calendar for the year. Members are welcome to attend these meetings, so feel free to come! (Although do keep in mind that we are at the very beginning of our Board tenure and still learning what we're doing.) Four of the currently seated members of the Board had the opportunity to participate in a Board Training Session hosted by Bloomingfoods at the beginning of December, and this training proved to be invaluable. We are grateful to Bloomingfoods for extending the invitation--having Board training right at the beginning of our journey is such a blessing! Feel free to contact me at robyn@terrefoods.org with any questions.
I know it seems like years away, but our first official Board elections are scheduled for November of 2009. In a few months we will be calling for nominations for Board seats. As fully-vested members, you are eligible to run for the Board, and strongly encouraged to vote.
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Thank you for your member-ownership! More great things are in store, so we'll stay in contact.
In Cooperation,
Robyn Morton, President, Board of Directors
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Contact Info
Terre Foods Cooperative Market
PO Box 3043
Terre Haute, IN 47804
info@terrefoods.org
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