Pittsburgh is the host city for two major cooperative conferences this year! The first is CCMA which stands for Consumer Cooperative Managers Association. This group is mostly made up of grocery and natural food stores from around the country. Taking place at the Westin downtown from June 11-13th, over 400 conference participants will attend workshops and special events to learn more about co-ops and hone their skills in managing ventures in which consumers/customers are also the owners.
Locally, the East End Food Co-op (EEFC) in Point Breeze is an example of a consumer co-op. EEFC is the host co-op for the CCMA conference and is giving away special goody bags to all attendees featuring local products. I was thrilled when asked to donate to the cause...about 400 jars of E-Ma's Natural Lip Balm!!! This is one of my newest products and am hoping folks love this light lip moisturizer with hints of peppermint and lemongrass. If you're interested in attending CCMA, contact Chris at EEFC at 412-371-3689.
The Eastern Conference for Workplace Democracy Conference happens July 31-Aug 2nd at Duquesne University. The purpose of the conference is to expose people to the concept of worker-owned businesses; to strengthen worker owned businesses and to build relationships between democratically-owned businesses, labor institutions and resource organizations. Groups and individuals interested in creating good, locally-owned, community-based jobs are especially encouraged to explore this promising strategy for economic and social development. This conference is co-hosted by Small Planet Institute, Ohio Employee Ownership Center and Coalition of Black Trade Unionists Pittsburgh.
Again, I am so excited because I have the wonderful opportunity of being involved in this event, this time through the developing Ujamaa Collective, a cooperative venture of Black women entrepreneurs working to bring an open-air marketplace to the Centre Avenue Corridor in the Hill District. I'm hoping within the next month I will be able to share an invitation with you for a really cool night mixer featuring a showcase of local co-ops sponsored by Ujamaa. Stay tuned for the details. And in the meantime, let's learn to cooperate even better Pittsburgh!
