Thrive

You have a co-op! Congratulations! Now that you’re up and running, you can dig in and learn about some of the most important aspects of running your business to make sure it thrives.

For a new board that wants more hands-on training about their role, we offer the Board Basics Workshop. Our governance expert offers this 2-hour workshop to work personally with your co-op’s board on governance basics and challenges specific to your group.

To get the word out, take our Communications for Co-ops workshop, which will help your board identify how to connect with important audiences to ensure the co-op achieves its goals.

What our clients have said:

Wow! Our co-op currently has several new directors, so desired a primer/review of Board duties, responsibilities, and ability to delegate. The presenter of this 2-hour workshop, Kyle White, ensured beforehand that the contents would match our needs. During the presentation, he encouraged dialogue and was well-prepared for any topic we brought up, often with examples from first-hand experience. This was an extremely beneficial activity for our young Board, and we will be using further resources of co-operative first because of their direct applicability.

-Keith A. Anderson, Peace Energy Co-operative

The Board Basics Workshop is just one of the many useful services our organization has used during our start-up phase. The thoughtful intake process ensured that the workshop was curated to target our specific needs and answer all of our questions efficiently and thoroughly. We were also impressed with the follow-up process that summarized our leanings and offered useful templates and resources to ensure smooth integration. This workshop is definitely time well spent for any board at any phase of working together!

-Shelley Kavia, Heart Linked Community Services Co-operative

“Heather and the team at Co-operatives First are top-notch. Not only their knowledge but their understanding of the project. They have truly helped us along every step of the way. Their timely response and knowledge of the steps are extraordinary. They are forthcoming with information. This is one of the most knowledgeable and friendliest teams I have ever had the pleasure of working with.”

Weyburn Theatre

“Co-operatives First made the process of establishing our Artisan Co-operative a very clear and easy process. The expanse of available tools and resources provided by Co-operatives First answers many questions and lightens the workload. Greatly appreciate having the connections made with Trista and Kyle, they keep the co-operative moving forward.”

Nehiyawaskiy Indigenous Peoples Art Co-op

“Our experience working with the Co-operatives First team was absolutely fabulous. The staff was accommodating, knowledgeable and patient. It was truly a breath of fresh air to have such a wealth of skill and resources available to a non-profit. They were invaluable to our successful launch!”

Heart Linked Community Services Cooperative

“Working with Co-operatives First was fantastic! We are still new to the cooperative world, and we relied heavily on their advice and expertise when drafting our rules/bylaws, and our memorandum of association. The team has experience with many different cooperative models, so they provided advice on what has and hasn’t worked for other cooperatives. We wouldn’t have been able to incorporate without their help!”

Ananda Cooperative

“We have had a very positive experience with everyone at Co-operatives First. They have helped us in multiple ways. Right from the first step in knowing how to incorporate, how to set our business and offering ideas for us to help steer us in the right direction plus allowing us to really make our own decisions. If our decisions go off track, they have gently guided us back to where we needed to be. The Co-operatives first guys are always eager to answer questions, and give ideas to us that got us off the ground.”

South East Butcher Block