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January 25, 2012

Terre Foods group hires consultant

Briefs members at annual meeting

Arthur Foulkes The Tribune-Star

TERRE HAUTE — Leaders of the Terre Foods Cooperative Market say they now have the road map they need to make their dream of a community-owned organic and local foods grocery store a reality.

The co-op, currently a group of about 400 “members” who have paid $200 each to the organization, recently hired a consultant to assess their efforts. The consultant, Bill Gessner of CDS Consulting Co-op, helped Terre Foods create a new leadership structure and greater focus, said Robyn Morton, board president.

About 45 people attended the annual meeting of the Terre Foods Co-op Tuesday evening at the Central Presbyterian Church.

The next step in the effort is to increase the number of members from a little more than 400 to 600, Morton said. When that goal is reached, many more pieces of the project can begin to fall into place, she said.

“Six hundred is this great big, golden number on the horizon,” Morton said during the meeting. “That’s when it can all start.”

The group, established in late 2007, is also working to raise about $400,000 in member loans of at least $1,000 each. Those loans will be repaid in five to 10 years with simple interest of 3 or less percent, said Jim Speer, a member of the Terre Foods steering committee and director of the Office of Sustainability at Indiana State University.

To date, the group has raised about $79,000 in member loans, Speer said.

Another focus of Terre Foods currently is to diversify the group’s board of directors. For example, there are no grocers or farmers serving on the board, Speer noted. The organization would like to change that, he said.

While it may seem Terre Foods is taking a long time to get off the ground, the organization is moving at about the average pace for a newly established food co-op, Morton said. In fact, people involved in cooperative efforts nationally are “amazed at how fast we’re moving,” she said. Co-ops normally require between three and five years to start, Morton said, adding that some take much longer.

At present, two local banks have expressed an interest in financing the project once 600 members have joined and $400,000 in member loans are raised, organizers said.

People want to join a food cooperative for different reasons, Morton said. Some benefits include having a place to shop with fresh, local foods; voting rights in store governance; member’s-only discounts; patronage refunds; and the ability to serve on the co-op’s board of directors.

But many people also see a co-op as a place that supports local business, creates local jobs and allows members to know where their shopping dollars are going, organizers said.

“It’s building community,” Speer said.

For more information on Terre Foods, visit their website at www.terrefoods.org.



Arthur Foulkes can be reached at (812) 231-4232 or arthur.foulkes@

tribstar.com.

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