Metis Settlements General Council

Suite 101, 10335 172 St

Edmonton, Alberta

T5S 1K9

780.822.4096

 

Hello,

It gives us great pleasure to invite you to our upcoming workshop; brought to you by the Metis Settlement General Council, and facilitated by the Alberta Community and Co-operative Association. 

This workshop will address challenges facing retail stores and gas stations in many Métis and First Nations Communities. It will explain how the co-operative structure can make your retail stores and gas stations, more profitable, better managed, and able to better meet community needs, and be a driving force for local economic development.

It will feature presentations from leaders of the Arctic Co-operatives Limited and Peter Couchman of the Plunkett Foundation. Both have been involved in helping hundreds of small and remote communities start successful local businesses, and build vibrant thriving communities! See below for more information on our presenters; or watch these clips of Peter Couchman explaining how small retail stores in the UK are the driving force behind local economic development!

This workshop is intended for economic development officers working in Métis and First Nations Communities, as well as entrepreneurs and community members involved in economic development. It takes place on Thursday, March 14th, from 10AM to 4PM at Hodson Hall (9210 118 Avenue, Edmonton), and will include a delicious hot lunch.

 

This workshop will feature:

- Information on Co-operatives

- Presentations from Peter Couchman and members of Arctic Co operatives Limited

- Discussions around how the co-operative structure could play a role in your community to improve retail stores and gas stations.

 

If you would like to learn more about our presenters, or co-ops in general, or the event we have included more information below.

 

To attend this FREE workshop please register online by following this link
 

Please RSVP by March 11th. You can also contact Seth Leon at 403-336-0468 or seth@acca.coop to register or for more information. You can also check out the event listing on Facebook; please feel free to share this event with your colleagues. This project is made possible by a grant from the Canadian Co-operative Association.

If you have any questions about the event please drop us a line, we look forward to seeing you on March 14th!

In co-operation,

Seth Leon

Additional Information

About The Presenters:

Peter Couchman has helped hundreds of cooperative businesses get started and thrive. He is Chief Executive of the Plunkett Foundation. He came to the post after spending his career so far in the cooperative movement, where he was best known for helping to make Oxford, Swindon & Gloucester Co-op an internationally recognised example for engaging members and marketing its co-operative identity. He serves the Social Enterprise Coalition Council, Defra’s Civil Society Advisory Board, Defra's Social Enterprise Strategic Partnership and Community Retail Network Board in Scotland. He is a fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of the Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA).

 

Arctic Co-operatives Limited is a service federation that is owned and controlled by 31 community-based Co-operative business enterprises that are located in Nunavut and Northwest Territories. Arctic Cooperatives Limited coordinates the resources, consolidates the purchasing power and provides operational and technical support to the community based Co-operatives.

-Provides support to a co-op network with combined revenues of approximately $196.9 million in 2011.

-The Member Co-op Patronage Refund in 2011 was $13.3 million.

-Over 900 people are employed in our Co-op network