Just a really quick reminder that through August 31 (which is THIS FRIDAY), our friends at the Energy Co-op will donate $20 to the South Philly Food Co-op for each household that joins and mentions the South Philly Food Co-op  as their referral.

The Energy Co-op is a member-owned, not-for-profit, service-driven energy provider that promotes efficient energy use and the use of renewable energy; provides energy cost savings, education and advocacy on behalf of its members; and, of course, supports cooperative movements.

Learn more about The Energy Co-op at their web site (full disclosure: yours truly is a member), and if you want to join, you can do it HERE (just remember the South Philly Food Co-op sent ya!) And, of course, if you haven't yet joined the South Philly Food Co-op and have been thinking you'd like to, well, now would be a great time to do that, too ;)

 

Okay, so let's say you're not reeeaaallly convinced that you're ready to step up your support for the South Philly Food Coop to the next level.  Or maybe you're game, but you're partner's a skeptic.  Well, here's  a tip that can tip a skeptic over the tipping point:  National Cooperative Grocers Association (NCGA) has put together a 21-page super-credible and highly-readable report about the impact of food coops on their local communities.  It's amazing.

Don't have the time to pore over an amazing 21-page document?  No problem.  Check out the 2-minute video synopsis.  It's conciousness-raising on speed.  You gotta try it.

Okay, so let's say you're not reeeaaallly convinced that you're ready to step up your support for the South Philly Food Coop to the next level.  Or maybe you're game, but you're partner's a skeptic.  Well, here's  a tip that can tip a skeptic over the tipping point:  National Cooperative Grocers Association (NCGA) has put together a 21-page super-credible and highly-readable report about the impact of food coops on their local communities.  It's amazing. Don't have the time to pore over an amazing 21-page document?  No problem.  Check out the 2-minute video synopsis.  It's conciousness-raising on speed.  You gotta try it.

Once again South Philly Food Co-op is participating in The Energy Co-op's Referral Rewards program. This proved to be a very successful fund raising effort for us last year, earning us $20 for each household who switched their energy supplier over to The Energy Co-op. We also helped to turn dozens of people on to the benefits of a cooperatively owned energy supplier. (Full disclosure: one of those households was my own.) They Energy Co-op is a member-owned, nonprofit cooperative. (Sound familiar?) This means that they operate for the benefit their members, not outside stakeholders or investors. They consist of a member-elected board, paid staff and over 7600 consumers in the five-county area. This year they are opening up the Referral Rewards opportunity to 10 community organizations including your own South Philly Food Co-op. The program will be a little shorter - July and August - so you have a little less time to make your decision.  If you join The Energy Co-op during those months AND mention the South Philly Food Co-op as your referral, The Energy Co-op will donate $20 to us. So if you've already been considering making the switch, just wait a couple more days and be sure to mention us as your referral. And if you've never heard of The Energy Co-op or don't know what it means to switch your electricity supplier, check out their website for more info (but remember... the South Philly Food Co-op sent you there!).

Once again South Philly Food Co-op is participating in The Energy Co-op's Referral Rewards program. This proved to be a very successful fund raising effort for us last year, earning us $20 for each household who switched their energy supplier over to The Energy Co-op. We also helped to turn dozens of people on to the benefits of a cooperatively owned energy supplier. (Full disclosure: one of those households was my own.) They Energy Co-op is a member-owned, nonprofit cooperative. (Sound familiar?) This means that they operate for the benefit their members, not outside stakeholders or investors. They consist of a member-elected board, paid staff and over 7600 consumers in the five-county area. This year they are opening up the Referral Rewards opportunity to 10 community organizations including your own South Philly Food Co-op. The program will be a little shorter - July and August - so you have a little less time to make your decision.  If you join The Energy Co-op during those months AND mention the South Philly Food Co-op as your referral, The Energy Co-op will donate $20 to us. So if you've already been considering making the switch, just wait a couple more days and be sure to mention us as your referral. And if you've never heard of The Energy Co-op or don't know what it means to switch your electricity supplier, check out their website for more info (but remember... the South Philly Food Co-op sent you there!).

I love infographics and wish I had to the talent to do some really good ones. For now, I just satisfy myself with sharing a couple from Take Part, a pretty slick advocacy website. Consider how a food co-op (our food co-op) can help fix this craziness.
Via: TakePart.com
Via: TakePart.com And forgive me if you've seen all this before, but it's worth seeing again.

I love infographics and wish I had to the talent to do some really good ones. For now, I just satisfy myself with sharing a couple from Take Part, a pretty slick advocacy website.

Consider how a food co-op (our food co-op) can help fix this craziness.

 

Via: TakePart.com

Via: TakePart.com

And forgive me if you've seen all this before, but it's worth seeing again.

We passed along some info a few days ago from our friends at the Philadelphia Area Cooperative Alliance (PACA). PACA also passed along information about some city policy that they are lobbying for. Though the South Philly Food Co-op isn't taking any official position on the legislation referenced below, we pass along this info from PACA for your information.

PACA Public Policy - Call to Action! Historic Land Bank Legislation Needs Your Support PACA has joined the Take Back Vacant Land Coalition to support passage of Philaelphia City Council legislation that will transfer ownership of the 40,000+ city-owned vacant properties to a land bank. The land bank will oversee the sale and distribution of these properties, and PACA along with the Take Back Vacant Land Coalition wants to ensure that community members have a say in this process. We want to ensure that some of the 40,000 properties benefit our communities, so that green spaces, cooperative businesses, affordable housing, and community centers can receive land too. Take a second to write a letter to the Legislation's sponsor, Councilwoman Sanchez. Feel free to use the template below, and personalize it as you see fit. Contact [email protected] if you have any questions. María Quiñones Sánchez 7th District Councilwoman Room 592, City Hall Philadelphia, PA 19107 Dear Councilwoman Sánchez: I am happy you have sponsored Bill #120052 to create a Philadelphia “Landbank”. I am pleased that Take Back Vacant Land’s priorities around (a) community representation on the board of directors, (b) public reporting on land sales and transfers and (c) consolidation of vacant land currently held by different city agencies are included. I am also pleased that our coalition is working with you and your staff to make sure that land is used for things most important to me: cooperative businesses that create good-paying jobs and provide essential services to the community, affordable, accessible housing, farming and gardening as well as open space, and that groups accountable to communities and our vision have priority for receiving land.

We passed along some info a few days ago from our friends at the Philadelphia Area Cooperative Alliance (PACA). PACA also passed along information about some city policy that they are lobbying for. Though the South Philly Food Co-op isn't taking any official position on the legislation referenced below, we pass along this info from PACA for your information.

PACA Public Policy - Call to Action! Historic Land Bank Legislation Needs Your Support PACA has joined the Take Back Vacant Land Coalition to support passage of Philaelphia City Council legislation that will transfer ownership of the 40,000+ city-owned vacant properties to a land bank. The land bank will oversee the sale and distribution of these properties, and PACA along with the Take Back Vacant Land Coalition wants to ensure that community members have a say in this process. We want to ensure that some of the 40,000 properties benefit our communities, so that green spaces, cooperative businesses, affordable housing, and community centers can receive land too. Take a second to write a letter to the Legislation's sponsor, Councilwoman Sanchez. Feel free to use the template below, and personalize it as you see fit. Contact [email protected] if you have any questions. María Quiñones Sánchez 7th District Councilwoman Room 592, City Hall Philadelphia, PA 19107 Dear Councilwoman Sánchez: I am happy you have sponsored Bill #120052 to create a Philadelphia “Landbank”. I am pleased that Take Back Vacant Land’s priorities around (a) community representation on the board of directors, (b) public reporting on land sales and transfers and (c) consolidation of vacant land currently held by different city agencies are included. I am also pleased that our coalition is working with you and your staff to make sure that land is used for things most important to me: cooperative businesses that create good-paying jobs and provide essential services to the community, affordable, accessible housing, farming and gardening as well as open space, and that groups accountable to communities and our vision have priority for receiving land.

Let's call today Advocacy Friday because we have a couple of issues that we want to share with you. The first is below and has to do with a piece of federal legislation. We'll post the second - about an issue before Philadelphia City Council - later today. We are often made aware of legislation pending before Congress that would either help or hurt various parts of the cooperative movement. Recently, we received a communication about The Small Business Lending Enhancement Act which would raise an arbitrary cap on the amount that credit unions (which are kind of like but not exactly like cooperatively owned banks) can lend to small businesses. We pass this along without much comment since we're not experts on banking - just yet - but eventually we'll be looking for financing for this Co-op and a credit union may just be one of our options. So let's help 'em out!

Credit Union Lending Cap Increase Needs Your Support The National Cooperative Business Association is asking members and all friends of cooperatives to demonstrate their support of S. 2231, which will enable credit unions to support economic growth through increased small business lending. The bill is in the US Senate, and critical action on this bill could come in the next few weeks. It’s important that members of the Senate hear from the cooperative community about the importance of voting in favor of this legislation. What does S. 2231 do? S. 2231 would raise the credit union member business lending cap from 12.25 percent of assets to 27.5 percent for eligible credit unions and task the National Credit Union Administration with writing safety and soundness regulations to implement the added authority. To be eligible, a credit union would have to be at or near its current cap, have at least five years’ experience in member business lending and be in a strong capital position. In addition, the credit union would not be allowed to grow its MBL portfolio more than 30 percent a year. Why it’s important. Credit unions have been subject to an arbitrary cap on lending since the passage of the Credit Union Membership Access Act of 1998. The Small Business Lending Enhancement Act would significantly increase the amount of money credit unions are allowed to invest in small businesses. The Credit Union National Association estimates that passing this legislation could provide up to $13 billion to small businesses in the first year alone and create over 140,000 new jobs at no cost to taxpayers. NCBA asks its members to call and email their senators in support of S. 2231. You may send an email to your senators by using this action alert tool, created by CUNA: http://capwiz.com/cuna/issues/alert/?alertid=60924641&PROCESS=Take+Action To call your senators’ offices, dial the US Capital switchboard at 202-224-3121. When speaking with your senator, please relate the following message: "I am contacting you to ask for your support on S.2231, The Small Business Lending Enhancement Act. America’s small businesses are the driving force of employment and economic improvement. In a recent survey, 90 percent of small businesses reported the availability of credit for small businesses is a problem. In fact, 61 percent of these same small businesses said it’s harder to get loans today than it was a few years ago. One of the easiest ways to help these small businesses gain access to the credit they need and start hiring is to lift the credit union member business lending cap." By allowing credit unions to make more business loans, we’ll be putting more Americans to work and improving our economy. In fact, it’s estimated that 140,000 jobs would be created by lifting the cap. Please help America’s small business owners and American workers by supporting S. 2231, the credit union small business jobs bill. Thank you for your support of cooperatives. Sincerely, Liz Bailey Interim President and Chief Executive Officer