Join members of our Board give you the scoop on Seward Co-op. Learn about the history and evolution of co-ops, how Seward came to be and where we’re headed, what it means to be a co-op owner, and how YOU play an important role in helping Seward live its vision to sustain a healthy community.
Kate and Moses, Seward Co-op Board of Directors
Free; please RSVP via Eventbrite.
Seward staff member Addie (she/they) will show you how to make Italian Sausage chili featuring our house-made Italian sausage, while members of our Board give you the scoop on Seward Co-op. Learn about the history and evolution of co-ops, how Seward came to be and where we’re headed, what it means to be a co-op owner, and how YOU play an important role in helping Seward live its vision to sustain a healthy community.
Friendship store
$5/Receive a $5 Seward Co-op gift card at class
Kate Seybold and Sally Nixon, Seward Co-op Board of Directors
Addie DeMery, Seward Co-op
What to expect: The Friendship store is located at 317 E. 38th St. Minneapolis, MN. The classroom is in the northeast corner of the store, past the general seating area. It is mobility-device accessible.
Join Seward board members to get the scoop on Seward Co-op! Learn about the history and evolution of co-ops, how Seward came to be and where we’re headed, what it means to be a co-op owner, and how YOU play an important role in helping Seward live its vision to sustain a healthy community.
Kate Seybold + Sally Nixon, Seward Co-op Board of Directors
We’d have to cap the attendees at 12 people (virtual classes usually bring in over 100 people).
Free
This is an in-person class at our Friendship store location. Please register in advance- registration will close at noon the day of class.
Meetings of Seward Co-op’s Board of Directors are open to any co-op owner. The next monthly board meeting is virtual and will be held Tuesday, July 26. The meeting will include a 10-minute Co-op Owners Comment Period. The board of directors planned this in response to community members’ requests to address the board. Individual time allotment is dependent on number of owners who wish to speak. Agenda is available here. To indicate your intention to attend and/or participate in the Co-op Owners Comment Period, please email board@seward.coop prior to July 26. This will allow us to provide you the virtual meeting link.
Seward Co-op’s Board of Directors is comprised of nine elected co-op owners who serve the co-op for three-year terms. The board typically meets 9-10 times a year on the last Tuesday of the month, at 6:15 p.m. The co-op’s board of directors appreciates hearing from you! They are available to answer questions and provide information about cooperative governance.
Seward Co-op’s Board of Directors invites potential candidates to learn about cooperative governance and the 2021 board election. Candidates must be current owners of Seward Co-op and be committed to the long-term sustainability of our co-op.
All candidates are required to attend an information session + a board meeting to be eligible to run in the election. Opportunities to attend are June 1, June 29 and July 27.
At the Candidate Information Session beginning at 5:30 p.m., you’ll hear from current directors and receive documents detailing the expectations of candidates. All interested candidates will need to submit a form and essay by Thursday, Aug. 5. Please email board@seward.coop to receive Zoom meeting information.
Meetings of Seward Co-op’s Board of Directors are open to any co-op owner. The next board meeting is Tuesday, May 26, at 6 p.m. Agenda is available here. Co-op owners are welcome to observe; your advance RSVP is politely requested. The May 26 meeting will include a 10-minute Co-op Owners Comment Period. The board of directors planned this in response to community members’ requests to address the board. Individual time allotment is dependent on number of owners who wish to speak. To indicate your intention to attend and/or participate in the Co-op Owners Comment Period, please email board@seward.coop prior to May 26. This will allow us to provide you the virtual meeting link.
Seward Co-op’s Board of Directors is comprised of nine elected co-op owners who serve the co-op for three-year terms. The board typically meets 9-10 times a year on the last Tuesday of the month, at 6:15 p.m. The co-op’s board of directors appreciates hearing from you! They are available to answer questions and provide information about cooperative governance.
Meet current board member Vina Kay at the Seward Co-op Friendship store on Sunday, Oct. 13 from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Come share what you love about the co-op, your questions about the co-op’s election, as well as your ideas. But most of all, just stop by to share about yourself and get to know a board member. Find Vina at a table in the co-op’s dining area.
Seward Co-op’s Board of Directors is comprised of nine elected co-op owners who serve the co-op for three-year terms. The board typically meets 9-10 times a year on the last Tuesday of the month, at 6:15 p.m. Meetings are open to any co-op owner, and we request you email board@seward.coop in advance of the meetings to indicate your intention to attend. This will allow us to notify you in the event of scheduling changes. Read more about board meetings here.
In 2017, Seward Co-op looks forward to providing the community with healthy and sustainably produced food. Concern for community is one of the seven principles on which cooperatives are founded, and co-ops have a strong commitment to support their neighborhoods. This integrity of purpose underlines the vital role Seward and other co-ops play in the quality of our lives.
This fall, the Friendship store celebrated its first anniversary and the Seward Co-op Creamery Café reopened after summer renovations and a menu relaunch. The Friendship store continues to perform beyond our expectations and the renovated café provides family-friendly dishes, and an upbeat and inviting atmosphere. Since opening the Friendship store and Creamery Café, thousands of new households have become owners of the co-op.
At Seward, we strive to build stronger relationships among employees, vendors, customers and our broader community by creating spaces in which people can come together over food. We are constantly asking ourselves how we can be more welcoming to all at the co-op. In 2016, this required that we acknowledge the larger historical context of racism and discrimination in our society and take proactive steps, as the board of directors did in September by publicly stating our co-op’s support for Black Lives Matter.
We take pride in the impact we make with our three distinct business units. We are able to offer more products and services from small-scale, local, and cooperative producers. And, each Seward Co-op location allows community members to gather over food, connecting with old friends and new acquaintances.
In early 2016, we reached $1 million in donations to local nonprofits via our SEED round-up program! Seward Co-op has made it a priority to give back to the community. In the spirit of the cooperative principles, the co-op launched SEED in 2011, a fundraising program that provides customers an opportunity to round-up their bill for organizations that share Seward’s commitment to a healthy community.
In the spring, Seward Co-op and many Twin Cities co-ops, teamed up to participate in the MN FoodShare March Campaign. Together, we raised a grand total of 109,371.37 dollars/pounds for the campaign! (This total is comprised of $97,211.67 and 12,159.7 lbs. of food.)
From Thursday, Nov. 17–Wednesday, Nov. 23 Seward Co-op donated 1 percent of all P6 sales, a total of $4,522, to the Cooperative Development Fund, a charitable family of funds that advances economic development through co-ops. These funds will be directed to area farms, many of which Seward has purchased from for years, that experienced damaging rains and consequential farm devastation in the 2016 growing season.
In August, we received a visit from U.S. Treasury Secretary, Jack Lew. Lew and his staff visited the Friendship store because part of the financing for the building came in the form of a New Markets Tax Credit. Lew helped create this tax credit in the 1990s during the Clinton administration. The credit is aimed to create jobs and improve lives of people in low-income communities.
Representative Keith Ellison also paid a visit to the Friendship store in January. The congressperson toured the store, met with staff, and discussed the co-op’s recycling program and diversity hiring goals.
Thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate the anniversary of the Friendship store and the annual meeting. The family-friendly event was held in the parking lot of the Friendship store in the same location as the ribbon cutting one year ago. We are thankful that the rain held off and a chili supper could be shared by community members. Seward Co-op owners and shoppers danced together as Friendship store Manager on Duty, Jerry Williams and his band, Sultry Soul performed. Check out some of the photos from the event on our Facebook page. As the Friendship store enters into its second year, we have a lot to celebrate.
Integral pieces of the annual meeting is the announcement of the board of directors election results and the release of the 2016 Scorecard, our annual report. Congratulations to Mehdi Kennar, Jill Krueger, Gregory Lee and Migdalia Loyola! Together with five others, these individuals are responsible for articulating the vision and goals for Seward Co-op that management pursues and achieves. The 2016 election featured a pool of highly qualified candidates. Thank you to all who ran and all who voted.
During the business portion of the meeting, the upcoming 2017 SEED recipients were also announced. For more than 40 years, Seward Co-op has been committed to giving back to our community. In 2011, we introduced SEED, a new way for customers to participate in this commitment. This simple yet powerful community giving program allows customers to “round-up” their grocery or cafe bill for recipient organizations that share our commitment to a healthy community. Congratulations to our 2017 SEED recipients!
Construction season is upon us in Minnesota, and this year the Seward neighborhood is no exception. In May, the Franklin Avenue Bridge closed and is scheduled to reopen this September. We’ve provided detour routes for bicycles and cars on our website here. We aren’t letting a little construction get us down, and neither should you —take the scenic route and check out these great things Seward Co-op has to offer! Here are five reasons to take the detour to the Franklin store.
Seward Summer Sale: Throughout the summer we will be running limited time offers on some of our most popular products. Take advantage of these deep discounts and stock up on snacks, treats, and pantry staples for the family.
Cycle Perks: Snap on your helmet and take a spin to the co-op. All bike commuters are eligible to enter our monthly Cycle Perks drawing. Pick up a “Cycle Perks” sticker at Customer Service to wear proudly on your helmet or bicycle. Along with this sticker, you’ll also receive a special punch card, which you can have punched for any purchase at Seward Co-op. A full card of 10 punches will enter you into a monthly drawing for a $50 gift card at Seward Co-op!
Nourish: Nourish provides practical ideas about how we can nourish ourselves, our families, and our community, without sacrificing our values and our budgets. Nourish recipes, found near the Customer Service desk offer inspiration for affordable ways to feed a family of four for $10 or less ($15 or less with meat protein). Learn basic scratch-cooking techniques in our free Nourish 101 classes. Staples shelf signs highlight products Seward Co-op is committed to offering at everyday low prices.
Ownership: Owner or not, everyone is welcome at Seward Co-op. Many people join to support a community-owned business that works to sustain the local economy. Ownership in the co-op comes with many benefits:
Becoming an owner of Seward Co-op is easy! Ownership is $75, and we offer three different payment options: Paid-in-Full, Installment, and Needs Based. Individuals wishing to become owners should stop by the Customer Service desk for more information.
P6: P6 is a unique national labeling program that you’ll only find in certain grocery co-operatives like Seward Co-op. The P6 label promotes small farmers/producers, co-operative business, and local farmers/producers. A company needs to meet two of these three criteria to receive the P6 label:
• Local
• Cooperative
• Small farmer/producer
Local defines a product grown or produced in the five-state region around the given co-op, or having value added in that region (see Seward Co-op’s definition of local below).
Co-op is defined by cooperative ownership of the business or nonprofit status.
Small producer is defined using these guidelines: a) Independently owned and operated, and b) Selling direct to store(s) or through a local distributor with a regional distribution area.
