lGradient
gradient News Flash
rGradient



Renamed the Canadian Agricultural Adaptation Program (CAAP), $163 million over five years is available to fund projects that will....


The Canadian Agricultural Loans Act (CALA) will allow more agricultural co-ops to take advantage of...


The Community Development Program offers funding to assist rural and northern regions obtain information and access/develop the expertise, tools and processes needed to....

Co-Operators
lGradient
gradient The Council
rGradient

Grocery The Council offers a wide variety of services to help facilitate the continued success, growth, and competitiveness of co-operatives and credit unions in New Brunswick. Whether you're a new or existing co-operative, or are just interested in finding out more about how to start a co-op, the Council has something for you.

Find out more...

There are nearly 250 co-operatives in New Brunswick, with more than 375,000 members and 4,200 employees. Collectively, we have a strong voice.... JOIN US!

lGradient
gradient Latest News & Updates
rGradient

UN Announces 2012 International Year of Co-operatives

Canada's co-operative sector is celebrating a recent decision by the United Nations General Assembly to proclaim 2012 the International Year of Co-operatives. http://www.coopscanada.coop/en/orphan/International_Year.

Since 1959, the UN has designated International Years in order to draw attention to major issues and to encourage international action to address concerns which have global importance.

"At a time when so many people around the world have a heightened interest in doing business with organizations whose values reflect their own, raising awareness of co-operatives and what they stand for is very important," said Kathy Bardswick, president and CEO of The Co-operators, who was recently elected to represent Canada on the board of the International Co-operative Alliance (ICA).

Read more...

New Directors Elected to the Council's Board

Board Members 2010

Back row, left to right: Greg LeBlanc, Ken Eliot, Wayne Dempsey, Brian McCullum, Blake Reynolds
Front row, left to right: Mary MacDonald, Denise Fictorie, Wendy Keats, Clark Phillips, Sharon Nussey

At the Annual General Meeting of the Co-operative Enterprise Council on May 28th in Moncton, two incumbent directors, Blake Reynolds (ACYL) and Clark Phillips (Sussex Farmers Market) were re-elected and two new directors, Denise Fictorie (OMISTA Credit Union) and Ken Eliot (Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada) were elected to the Board. For more information about this year's meeting, please see the Annual Report 2009-2010


Collaboration Kicks Into High Gear

Collaboration Initiative

One of the easiest of the co-op principles to remember is probably Number 6, Co-operation among co-operatives. The wording may be easy to keep in mind, but many co-ops struggle to embody the principle in their day-to-day decision-making and in their planning.

The Collaboration Initiative is currently leading the way in making the sixth principle "second nature" to New Brunswick co-operatives. Thanks to support from the Co-operative Development Initiative, thirty-five co-operators came together in Fredericton recently to identify synergies and opportunities for collaboration. The mix included everyone from producers to specialists in funerals, finances, home care services, communications, agriculture, retail , youth, worker co-ops, and many others. Participants shared their ideas freely as they engaged in a series of exercises designed to get the creative juices flowing. Five key priorities for collaboration were identified by the group:

Collaboration Initiative
  • Marketing and promotion
  • Incentive packages
  • Youth involvement
  • Networking and information sharing
  • Lobby the government

There was unanimous agreement that co-ops and credit unions would benefit from working more closely together and people were raring to move into the next phase of the project that will involve gathering additional data and a preliminary assessment of the feasibility of the most promising ideas. Stay tuned for more on this exciting initiative in the coming months!