Back Issue

Monthly Headlines, June 2004

Front Page: Serving the Underserved: Co-ops Help Poor Build Wealth and More
The economy may have turned the corner, but that's little solace to Americans with few or no job skills. Many remain unemployed and countless others can't make ends meet or get health insurance in bottom-rung jobs.

For these Americans worker-owned cooperatives offer both jobs and ownership opportunities with the promise of higher compensation in years when the business turns a profit.

Food Co-ops emphasize education, access and affordability
Co-ops put Home Ownership in reach.
'Access' Program assists low-income communities

Page Three: Food Co-ops Gearing Up to Defend Government Organic Standards
The government's standards for which foods can be called organic are again under attack. An about-face by the Agriculture Department solved one problem in late May but food co-ops around the country are armed and ready for battle in the months to come.

48th Annual CCMA Conference Highlights
There was considerable optimism over the imminent reorganization of the National Cooperative Grocers Association at the annual Consumer Cooperative Management Association Conference held annual by the National Cooperative Business Association and developed and implemented by the University of Wisconsin.

Record attendance added to the excitement, while the program covered topics ranging from visual merchandising to management compensation.

Walden Swanson of Co-op Metrics in Carrboro, N.C., predicted co-ops "will be the survivors of the independent natural food stores" over the next five years.

International News: Beyond Profits: Coffee Co-ops Provide Health Care in East Timor
Nine community health clinics developed by an East Timor coffee cooperative with help from NCBA's CLUSA International Program were lauded recently by President José Alexandre Gusmão. With no funding from the cash-strapped Timorese government, the clinics and the East Timor Ministry of Health work together to deliver public health programs and educational campaigns on topics like tuberculosis and malaria prevention.