Professional Documents
Culture Documents
by!the!
Renaissance!Coop!Committee!(RCC)! !
The City of Greensboro is in the middle of a process in which theyll decide what should happen with the Renaissance Shopping Center on Phillips Avenue, which is currently owned by the City. As part of that process, the RCC was invited to present a concrete proposal to the City Council at a specially called private briefing held on February 26th. The following pages summarize the main points and ideas discussed in that session. The proposal presented on February 26th is the starting point of what we expect to be an ongoing conversation and negotiation with the City. As that conversation unfolds, the RCCs initial proposal may be modified or joined with other ideas that Council is considering. We arent sure when the City will make its final decisions around the shopping center, but we expect that to happen sometime in April. In the meantime, we want the community to know what the RCC proposed. To stay current with new developments in the process, get on our email list or log onto our facebook page: search for Renaissance Community Coop. ! !
! 2! A!New!Approach!to!Economic!Development! Since!1998!when!the!Winn!Dixie!store!on!Phillips!Avenue!closed,!the!surrounding! community!has!expressed!a!consistent!desire!for!a!high!quality!full!service!grocery!store,! where!a!family!could!do!all!of!its!shopping.!By!current!terminology,!this!northeast! Greensboro!neighborhood!is!a!food!desert!where!healthy!food!choices!require!traveling! for!miles,!even!for!those!who!have!little!access!to!transportation.! Lack!of!progress!in!securing!a!grocery!store!has!been!a!source!of!frustration!for!many! residents,!causing!some!to!feel!that!City!government!is!not!doing!all!that!it!can,!and!leaving! others!to!conclude!that!there!is!something!wrong!with!the!community!or!its!residents.! Stagnant!economic!conditions!in!Northeast!Greensboro,!characterized!by!high! unemployment!and!low!wages!for!those!who!can!find!work,!are!a!product!of!the!national! economic!crisis!on!the!one!hand!and!remnants!of!patterns!of!social!inequality!on!the!other.! Many!people!are!discouraged,!especially!young!people!who!see!little!opportunity!in!their! futures.!The!lack!of!a!neighborhood!grocery!store!and!the!specter!of!the!mostlyRempty! shopping!center!that!remains!are!daily,!discouraging!reminders!of!limited!opportunities.! Sadly,!the!Phillips!Avenue!area!is!not!alonefood!deserts!are!appearing!in!other! Greensboro!communities!that!were!once!well!served!with!diverse!food!choices.!Food! deserts!are!a!growing!local!and!national!problem!that!emerges!from!corporate!decisions! intended!to!maximize!overall!company!profit.!Major!grocery!chains!are!moving!to! consolidate!their!stores!into!larger!units,!despite!the!fact!that!people!still!have!to!eat!and! the!negative!effect!these!closures!have!on!neighborhoods.!Private!developers!simply!do!not! see!enough!profit!to!enter!into!this!arena.!This!can!be!seen!in!the!failure!of!nearly!15!years! of!efforts!to!attract!a!true!full!service!grocer!to!the!area,!even!with!the!Citys!offer!of! incentives!to!motivate!interest.!For!a!business!whose!prime!motivation!is!making!a!sizeable! profit,!the!numbers!simply!do!not!work!out.!Clearly,!we!need!to!try!something!new.!! We!need!a!new!approach!to!economic!development!that!provides!good!jobs!with!good! benefits!and!helps!to!create&community&wealth.!We!need!an!approach!to!economic! development!that!begins!to!address!longstanding!issues!of!disparity!along!lines!of!race!and! class!that!have!been!raised!by!the!community!for!years!and!were!recently!highlighted!in! official!studies!commissioned!by!the!city!government.!Disparities!of!income,!wealth,!and! the!availability!of!goods!and!services!are!not!consistent!with!a!healthy!democracy.! The!Renaissance!Community!Cooperative!(RCC)!is!pursuing!a!community&ownership& approach!that!assumes!satisfying!the!needs!of!the!community!as!its!core!purpose.!Higher! wages,!more!benefits,!and!higher!quality!goods!at!lower!prices!are!possible!if!the!driving! concern!of!the!store!is!not!maximum!profit,!but!rather!maximum!community!benefit.!The! RCC!is!working!to!create!a!selfRsustaining,!viable!business!that!is!democratically!owned!and! controlled!by&the&community&itself.&The!RCC!model!requires!an!operation!that!will!have! enough!profit!to!assure!sustainability!and!growth,!but!it!will!not!operate!with!the!goal!of! maximizing!profit.!! The!RCC!model!begins!with!a!grocery!store,!but!it!doesnt!end!there.!As!the!RCC!grocery!
Renaissance!Community!Coop!
http://renaissancecoop.com!
! 3! store!meets!a!longRstanding!community!need,!it!will!build!enough!community!wealth,! community!selfRconfidence,!and!community!knowRhow!that!the!community!will!be!able!to! assume!ownership!of!the!Center!at!an!appropriate!time!in!the!future.!!And!from!there,!who! knows?! There!is!a!lot!of!talk!these!days!about!community!wealth!building.!Thats!sensible:!the! wealth!that!is!attracted!to!a!community!and!remains&and&grows&in&that&community!impacts! the!quality!of!life,!determines!how!resilient!communities!are!to!economic!instability,!and! facilitates!the!capacity!of!communities!to!meet!their!own!needs.!Much!of!the!current!work! on!wealth!building!is!based!on!the!premise!that!all!that!is!missing!is!economic!literacy.!In! fact,!the!real!problem!is!that!often!there!is!very!little!community!wealth!from!which!more! can!be!built.!The!City!governments!support!of!the!RCCs!cooperative!business!effort!will! directly!impact!wealth!that!will!be!retained!and!grow!in!the!community!for!the!benefit!of! the!community!as!a!whole!rather!than!simply!for!the!benefit!of!a!few.!! With!the!ownership!of!the!RCC!grocery!store!in!the!hands!of!a!broad,!democratically! controlled!community!body,!the!strategic!direction!of!the!business!toward!meeting!the! needs!of!the!community!and!its!continued!presence!in!the!community!are!assured.!While! an!individual!entrepreneur!might!want!to!take!his!investment!out!at!some!point!in!order!to! attain!higher!returns!elsewhere,!the!community!as!a!group!will!have!no!such!desire,!given! their!ongoing!need!for!the!healthy!foods!that!their!store!will!provide.! The!community!is!empowered!when!it!can!be!directly!involved!in!its!own!development! through!communityRbased!approaches.!Engaged!communities!will!become!more!interested! in!the!whole!range!of!civic!functions!that!are!part!of!the!life!in!this!city.! Even!better,!the!RCCs!approach!is!Replicable,&Scalable,&and&Inspiring.!The!model!is!not! particularly!costly!or!hard!to!teach,!so!it!can!be!taken!up!in!other!neighborhoods!that!are! willing!to!invest!the!time!and!effort!to!do!the!community!building,!learning,!and!grassroots! fundraising.!The!RCC!is!finding!that!the!movement!readily!increases!in!size!and!engages! more!people!as!excitement!spreads.!As!the!RCC!approach!in!northeast!Greensboro!becomes! a!model!for!the!rest!of!the!city,!Greensboro!can!become!a!model!for!other!cities!in!the! country!that!are!experiencing!the!same!problems!that!we!face.! ! !
Renaissance!Community!Coop!
http://renaissancecoop.com!
! 4! Summary!of!the!RCCs!February!26th!Proposal!to!the!City!of!Greensboro!! Working!with!the!City!and!other!partners,!the!Renaissance!Coop!Committee!(RCC)!is! proposing!to!take!the!lead!on!a!new!communityRownership!approach!to!economic! development!in!Northeast!Greensboro!that!will!bring!good!jobs!with!good!benefits!and! meet!longRstanding!community!needs.!The!model!begins!with!a!communityRowned!grocery! store!and!leads!to!community!ownership!of!the!entire!Renaissance!shopping!center!(the! Center).!The!model!can!be!replicated!in!other!communities!in!Greensboro,!growing!in!size! and!impact,!making!lasting!change!that!will!inspire!other!cities!to!do!similar!projects.! The!RCC!requests!that!the!City!retain!ownership!of!the!Center!for!4R10!years,!allowing! time!for!a!democratically!governed!community!group!to!develop!capacity!to!assume! ownership.!When!such!a!group!is!ready!to!assume!ownership,!the!City!will!negotiate!a! reasonable!purchase!price!and!financing!terms,!with!conditions!that!ensure!ongoing! community!ownership.! The!RCC!requests!that!the!City!lease!15,000!square!feet!to!the!RCC!to!operate!a!fullR service!communityRowned!grocery!store!with!associated!community!space.!To!ensure! rapid!return!of!profits!to!the!community,!the!rent!for!the!grocery!store/community! space!should!be!set!at!a!variable,!capped!level!not!to!exceed!$2,000/month,!which!is! intended!to!cover!lost!property!tax!and!the!ongoing!cost!of!keeping!the!Center! maintained.!! The!RCC!requests!that!during!the!period!of!City!ownership,!the!City!will!work!closely! with!a!communityRbased!advisory!group!that!includes!significant!representation!from! stakeholders!in!the!community!surrounding!the!Center! The!RCC!requests!economic!development!assistance!from!the!City,!including:! o An!Economic!Development!Grant!of!$100,000!! o A!tenRyear!Economic!Development!Loan!of!$600,000!at!0%!interest! o Assistance!from!the!Citys!Economic!Development!office!and!lobbyist!in! identifying!and!securing!grants,!loans,!and!loan!guarantees!from!Federal!and! state!sources!!
Renaissance!Community!Coop!
http://renaissancecoop.com!
! 5!
! 6! must be anchored in their communities, so that they are unlikely to get up and leave in pursuit of higher profits elsewhere. There are a number of ways a CBE might be anchored in its community, including being owned by its workers or by the larger community. Or, a CBE might depend mightily on a particular place for its raw resources or marketsfor example, champagne can only be made in the Champagne region of France and North Carolina wines can only be made in the grape-growing areas on North Carolina. The second important way that CBEs are woven into the fabric of their communities is that they must expressly support the community on an ongoing basis. This might be accomplished by a reasonable portion of the businesss profit being contributed to the community in a conscious and deliberate way to meet social needs and improve the quality of life. This might include recreation, education, or economic development support for other community based enterprises. We arent sure yet how to combine these criteria to make final judgments about whether a business is or is not a community based enterprise (or where such judgments might come into play), but we think some clarity is needed or we run the risk of setting the bar too low and losing the transformative potential of the very notion of community based enterprise. Perhaps, in conversations with others engaged in this kind of economic development work, well decide a business needs to show high performance on all four criteria. Or perhaps well decide a business must show high performance on all but one criterion, and have clear timetables and plans to achieve the last one. For example, a business might be economically and environmentally sustainable and woven into the fabric of its community, yet not yet pay its workers a living wage. This might be the case with a newly formed worker-owned coop in which the workers have agreed to accept a lower wage as a way to capitalize initial losses. If their business plan was based on sound financial projections that showed a path to profitability with living wages for everyone, we would probably see that business as CBE. (We would hope, by the way, that the workers initially low wages would either be treated as a loan to be paid back out of future profits, or as part of each workers equity in the company.)
Renaissance!Community!Coop!
http://renaissancecoop.com!
! 7! difficulties, decisions, and results. Periodic community meetings, newsletters (paper or electronic), and emails are some of the things that can be used. Having a fair decision process is important in assuring that the will of the community determines the choices that are being made. The decision processes may differ according to the situation, but they must be appropriate to the decision that is being made and known and agreed to in advance. For any single decision, It is good to have alternative choices available to people, rather than simply approving of a single idea. This includes voting in public meetings as well as other democratic decision devices such as multiple dot voting or even the use of consensus. The basis of any and all of these processes should be the voting power of each individual is equal to that of any other.
Renaissance!Community!Coop!
http://renaissancecoop.com!
! 8!
Join the Renaissance Coop Committee Show support at City Council o Call or email all the Council members and tell them you want a coop grocery store o Attend the Council briefing on Wednesday, March 13th at 3 pm o Attend the Council meeting where the decision will be made (Date TBD)
Sign up for more info and email updates Support the fundraising campaign Learn more about coops and the grocery business o Coop Grocery Movie Night April 10 or 24
Renaissance Coop Committee P.O. Box 13531 Greensboro NC 27415 Renaissance.Coop@gmail.com www.facebook.com/pages/Renaissance-Community-Coop !
Renaissance!Community!Coop!
http://renaissancecoop.com!