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Grace, Good Will, and Collective Action
Cooperation, particularly in hard times, requires good will and patience to balance our toughness and resolve. Writer Margaret Killjoy expresses this well: “In order to take collective action, we need to act in solidarity with one another. In order to act in solidarity with one another, we need to offer each other grace. We need
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In Retrospect, A Really Awful Year
It would take many pages just to summarize the shocks and debacles that 2025 brought to Carolina Common Enterprise, as with all of the United States. In particular, the newly-inaugurated regime gutted USDA Rural Development without Congressional authorization. Our friends and colleagues at Rural Development were laid off or forced into retirement. Our bread-and-butter
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Changes at the Cooperative Council of the Carolinas
Sara Coats has been Executive Director of the Cooperative Council for several years. Under her leadership, the Cooperative Council of North Carolina extended itself to South Carolina and changed its name to fit. Sara worked tirelessly to broaden the Council’s membership and programs. Sara has been a key board member and partner for CCE in
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Rochdale Day: Where Cooperation Began
181 years ago this Sunday, the 21st, the Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers opened their store on Toad Lane in Rochdale, England. While not, as widely regarded, the “first cooperative,” the Rochdale Pioneers were a signal effort that led to a global cooperative movement. Similar mutual enterprises sprang up in other nations in the
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Our Co-op Fundraiser Is Still Going Strong — and Getting More Magical by the Day!
Thanks to your incredible support, our cooperative fundraiser is still very much in action — and we’re thrilled to share that we’ve already raised almost $5,000! Every gift so far has helped keep our work moving forward, strengthening the cooperative movement and empowering communities across our region. But we’re not done yet.As we approach the
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Board Governance Without the Heartburn
By Kelly Liddington Many of the folks reading this newsletter serve on boards—sometimes several at once. Most of us volunteer because we want to help an organization meet a goal or address a real community need. And if that’s not the motivation, we can usually come up with a respectable reason for joining when someone
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Why cooperatives hold the key to future food security
From farm to table, food production and distribution is the foundation of health and wellbeing, worldwide. International Cooperative Alliance Director General Jeroen Douglas outlines that cooperatives can ensure food security globally. “The cooperative movement has its roots in a group of disgruntled consumers in Rochdale, UK, who in the mid-19th century were frustrated at how
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When The Going Gets Tough, Cooperatives Get Going
By Thomas Beckett Economic cooperation, whether informally or through organized cooperatives, has always been a human response to scarcity. We look to the example of the Rochdale Pioneers in industrial England, poor millworkers combining their resources to open a small cooperative grocery, to show that co-ops are a response to economic deprivation. However, Rochdale was
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Cooperatives: putting in the work
[Featured image: The Durham Farmers Exchange cooperative grew to 900 members, helping farm families make it through the Great Depression. Photo courtesy of the Durham County Library.] Written by Tom Beckett “Nothing will change until we change – until we throw off our dependence and act for ourselves.” – Myles Horton Cooperatives: Putting in the
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Up & Coming 2025
[Featured image: Cooperative Development Director, Korita Steverson and CCE Board Member Allanah Hines stopped for pictures at Up & Coming 2025’s Black Led Day hosted by the National Black Food & Justice Alliance.] Written by Korita Steverson, CCE Cooperative Development Director The Up & Coming 2025 Conference in Kalamazoo, Michigan, last month offered a dynamic
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October is national co-op month!
Carolina Common Enterprise 3.0: Co-Owning the Future Carolina Common Enterprise is evolving. For years, we have been a nonprofit dedicated to helping communities explore the cooperative business model. Much of our work was made possible through grant funding, allowing us to provide services at little to no cost. But times have changed. Today, as Carolina
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Our Latest Client Project
In the heart of Warren County, a bold new cooperative initiative is taking root. The Sandy Creek Processing Cooperative is an emerging producer-led project that aims to transform how small and mid-sized farms across Eastern North Carolina access markets, preserve crops, and grow together. With support from Carolina Common Enterprise and the guidance of food
