Bay City Food Co-Op Receives National Attention

On June 15 and 16, the Bay City Cooperative Market received a visit from Jacqueline Hanna, Assistant Director of the national non-profit, Food Co-op Initiative (FCI). FCI works as a support mechanism for food co-op start-ups across the nation, as well as overseeing grants from the Howard Bowers Fund. Last year, the Bay City Cooperative Market was awarded one of 10 of the grants available nationally to the approximate 140 food co-op start-ups across the United States. The grant allowed the co-op to hire their first employee, Outreach Coordinator, Robin Devereaux-Nelson, who focuses on ownership development in the community. The purpose of Hanna’s visit was to support and promote the Bay City Cooperative Market in the media, and to inform the community about what a co-op is and how co-ops grow the economy and support local farms and producers. She also facilitated a training workshop for the co-op’s Board of Directors.

The Bay City Cooperative Market has been in existence for approximately three years and has focused efforts on building ownership with a goal of opening a full-service, cooperative grocery store in Bay City. The business’ main tenets are community, access to healthy, local foods and food education. Owners make a one-time investment in the grocery store, which is co-owned by them. Owners make decisions about who sits on the Board of Directors, store development and how equity is spent. If you are interested in being a part of the Bay City Cooperative Market or learning more about co-ops and why this project is important to the Great Lakes Bay Region, or would like to have a presentation about the co-op at your organization, please contact Robin Devereaux-Nelson at 989-928-3561 or at outreach@baycityfood.org