Using Community Action to Promote Economic Development: Food Co-op and Grocery Store Case Studies

by Christa Franzi 10. May 2012 12:02

Starting up a Co-op

One of the most successful food co-ops, the Lexington Co-Operative Market, is located in the city of Buffalo, NY at 807 Elmwood Avenue. This co-op was formed in 1971 by local community members who desired access to whole foods at reasonable prices. According to a third-party interview with Tim Bartlett, the co-op’s General Manager, the Lexington Co-Operative Market developed from local market demand for things like whole grains, tofu, and fresh, good-quality produce. Local residents of this underserved neighborhood originally came together to form a ‘buying club’ to purchase these types of products. After a while, a surplus of extra products was established and was sold off during the week in stores.

Today, the Lexington Co-Operative is truly a community-based organization. It offers food-related classes, issues a newsletter, maintains a strong social media presence, and provides other great resources through its website. Member-owners invest capital in the co-op ($80-annually) and participate in decision making by electing a board of directors and voting on any amendments to the bylaws. According to their website they are considering ideas for a significant expansion in the near future.

Learn more about the co-op here: http://lexington.coop/

The Honest Weight Food Co-op, located on Central Avenue in Albany, NY, also began as a buying club in 1976. Local residents living in a low-income part of the City started the club as a way to access natural foods at low cost. The operation was run out of the basement of one of the founding members. Within a year, monthly orders grew to about $1,000 and the basement was no longer sufficient for the operation. In 1977, the club voted to rent a nearby storefront.

By 1979, membership grew from an initial 130 members to almost 400 members. As the store grew it began to add new items to its inventory. In 1986, the Honest Weight Food Co-op purchased its building which, at that time, encompassed 2,000 square feet and grossed about $300,000 annually. In 1995, the operation was relocated once more to its current location on Central Avenue. By 2003 sales had risen to $5.5 million and membership grew to 3,667.

The Honest Weight Food Co-op is planning to expand again. They have purchased property and are running a ‘New Building Loan Drive’ to collect funds to support their planned environmentally sustainable grocery store.

The Honest Weight Food Co-op maintains a detailed history of its beginnings and future plans to expand on its website: http://www.hwfc.com/index.html

Attracting a Grocery Store

A great example of a low-income, underserved neighborhood successfully attracting a retail grocery store can be found in Rochester’s own back yard - in the Upper Falls Neighborhood. The number of supermarkets in the Rochester area dropped from 42 in 1980 to only 8 in 1995. In the spring of 1992, a severe fire destroyed the sole grocery store in the Upper Falls Neighborhood leaving local residents with no local access to affordable, fresh foods. Many residents traveled long distances to suburban markets to make food purchases, which became a financial burden to these low-income residents. 

Shortly after the fire, Upper Falls residents began to meet to try and come up with a way to attract a new grocery store to their neighborhood. They started by surveying the community (i.e. the market) and collecting data to gauge their needs and interests, which is how the group determined that the market demanded a full-service grocery store and not a small ‘corner store’ or a co-op. Even with what seemed to be convincing data, grocery store chains approached by the group expressed concern regarding their ability to achieve enough sales to operate. After several years of collecting data, working with local politicians, and even demonstrating, the group attracted the interest of TOPS, a multinational grocery store chain.

Moving forward with the project required a strong public/private partnership with investment from both sides. TOPS invested $28 million toward redevelopment of the site, and the City and local stakeholders worked to assemble public funds from the Federal Enterprise Community Zone program, the Community Development Block Program, the Urban Renewal Trust Fund, and the HUD 108 program. It took five years of tireless efforts, but finally in 1997 a new shopping plaza was constructed in the Upper Falls Neighborhood.

The complete case study, and additional references, can be found here: http://www.eatbettermovemore.org/pdf/BE_Rochester_NY.pdf

What does it take?

As demonstrated by the above case studies, the single most important factor in either starting a co-op or attracting a grocery store in an underserved, low-income neighborhood is community action. Each of the above projects was the product of determined community members ‘going to battle’ to fill a void. Without this degree of persistence and focus, starting a co-op or attracting a full-service grocery store to a low-income neighborhood would not be possible.  

Even the most determined community group may not have the know-how to embark on a successful campaign. According to Strategic Alliance for Healthy Food and Activity Environments, a network of advocates for development of policies aimed at improving eating and activity opportunities in California, characteristics of successful supermarket attraction strategies include:

  • Provide an assessment of market demand
  • Identify multiple site locations
  • Create financial and regulatory incentives
  • Provide development assistance
  • Recruit multiple operators

Strategic provides several case studies and resources regarding both grocery store and co-op development on their website: http://preventioninstitute.org/about-us-sa.html.

Below are some additional internet resources:

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Economic Development Strategic Plan Components

by Christa Franzi 18. April 2012 10:14
We are often asked by the communities we work with to provide a list of typical components that make up a strategic economic development plan. While we stress that it is important for each community to develop a scope of work that is specific to their needs, there are several general components that are important to most every economic development strategic plan.   
 
Review of Existing/Previous Work
For most strategic planning projects, Camoin Associates begins by asking the client to provide copies of any economic development and/or relevant planning reports or studies completed for the locality/region.  By reviewing these documents, we ensure that we are not duplicating work that has already been done; instead we try to build upon and enhance existing strategies that are already in place (where applicable).  This exercise also allows us to understand which industries and/or industry clusters and other economic development opportunities have been identified and targeted in the past and how local targeted industries/opportunities align with those that are targeted regionally.   
 
Economic Overview 
The economic overview is a thorough analysis of a particular geography’s current economic situation.  Camoin Associates uses EMSI (Economic Modeling Specialists, Inc.), a subscription-based data tool that allows us to conduct an analysis of employment, wages and occupations to assess trends and opportunities.  This dataset not only provides historic data, but also offers projections, which enable us to identify not only current strengths, but also emerging opportunities.  The analysis is strengthened by comparing the study area to other neighboring areas (i.e. a competitive analysis), the region, the State and Nation.  Typically this analysis is broken down into two components: economic and workforce. 
  • Economic Base:  An in-depth examination of establishments and employment by industry, including the largest employment sectors, fastest growing both historically and projected, and concentration of industry sectors. 
  • Workforce:  A comprehensive assessment of top occupations in all industries, top occupations in the strongest performing industries, education and training levels typically required for these top occupations, and average wages and earnings in comparison to the State and Nation.  We also review labor market data for career clusters and pathways and assess educational demand. 
Retail Market Analysis
To assess the retail market in an area, Camoin Associates subscribes to ESRI Business Analyst Online (BAO), a Web-based solution that combines GIS technology with extensive demographic, consumer spending, housing and business data for the entire United States.  BAO provides detailed information about the demographic makeup of various populations and their lifestyles and buying behavior as well as information about businesses in a defined market area.
Camoin Associates utilizes BAO data on actual retail sales in each given category with the total potential retail spending by residents, deriving the leakage/surplus factor, which measures the gap between supply and demand.   From this, we can calculate the likely number of establishments by category that can take advantage of unmet demand in an area, such as a downtown, and identify potential opportunities.  
 
Key Stakeholder Interviews & Public Input
In our experience, economic strengths and opportunities are best assessed when data is combined with qualitative information gained through interviews with industry and economic development stakeholders.  These interviews reveal the strengths of relationships between firms, service providers, and other stakeholders as well as help to identify emerging trends that may not be apparent from simply looking at the data. We often interview anywhere between 20-50 stakeholders depending on the needs of the project and the budget.  These may be one-on-one interviews and/or facilitated sessions among small groups. 
For many projects, we also garner input from the community through social media and web-based tools - often designing pages dedicated specifically to the strategic planning process.  These tools inform the public about the process, provide a location for public disclosure and comments, links to survey instruments, and drafts and final versions of reports. 
 
SWOT Analysis
Once a thorough understanding of the area’s economy is obtained, the SWOT analysis is an exercise completed by the project team to further refine and prioritize the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the municipality from an economic development perspective.  Camoin Associates typically employs consensus building techniques to engage participants in a discussion about the SWOT analysis and comment on a draft vision statement for the strategy. 
 
Targeted Industry Analysis
Based on the findings from the above exercises, Camoin Associates either reaffirms targeted industries and projects that the client has already considered or suggests new industries that the client should consider pursuing.  Specific strategies for targeting the identified industries are provided along with a description of synergies with local and regional strategies that offer opportunities, growth potential in targeted areas, gaps, innovation opportunities, partners, etc. 
 
Action Plan & Performance Measures
A draft Economic Development Strategy is formulated from the SWOT analysis and vision statement discussion.  The Action Plan identifies potential economic development goals, objectives, and initiatives and becomes the backbone of the implementation plan.  Once an Action Plan has been drafted, Camoin Associates typically leads a review process with the client to further prioritize, edit, or delete items. 
 
Successful economic development initiatives require consistent effort over the long-term.  In our experience, if a municipality undertakes an implementation strategy, it is crucial to establish measures that can be used to determine its success.   To that end, Camoin Associates can provide the client with a number of performance measures and a recommended evaluation process to measure the success of the plan over time.

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The Met Council: Overcoming Rivalry to Plan Regionally

by Christa Franzi 17. January 2012 13:15

The Twin Cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis have a deep-rooted rivalry that still exists today. Yet, through the development of the Met Council, an agency serving the 7-county Twin Cities region, these very different areas joined together to address transportation, water, wastewater, conservation, and planning issues with great efficiency and achievement. The following is the second piece of a two-part essay on the history and function of the Met Council. 

Part II: An Innovative Arrangement

The Metropolitan Council is designed to plan for orderly development of the seven-county metro area as well as coordinate delivery of certain services that cannot be effectively provided by a single city or town.  Over 300 separate units of local government, including 7 counties, 188 cities and townships, and 22 special purpose districts are located within this region, which is about 1.9 million acres in size - twice the size of Long Island. [i] About 2.8 million people reside in the Twin Cities region.

At the creation of this Council, the region was divided into 16 districts with roughly equal population. Careful consideration of social and natural boundaries allowed delineation of districts with similar land use patterns, cultural heritage, natural habitats, development pressures, social identities, and biological cycles. Municipalities within each district are generally alike, they tend to face similar issues and have corresponding needs. Urban districts located toward the center of the region are smaller geographically compared to rural districts located near the region’s edge. In total, 17 members serve on the Metropolitan Council, one from each district and a chair who serves ‘at large’. Members are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the State Senate. A new Council is appointed with each new term. Because they are appointed and not elected, Council members typically maintain a ‘low key’ presence.[ii]

The Metropolitan Council’s mission is to guide the efficient growth and development of the metropolitan area by working with local communities to develop a framework to plan for regional systems.5  Council programs and services include regional transportation, water and environmental services, housing, regional parks, and planning assistance. Three primary organizational divisions carry out the council’s organizational divisions: The Community Development Division, The Environmental Services Division; and the Transportation Division.

At its core, the Metropolitan Council is a regional planning authority. The Community Development Division is responsible for shaping and coordinating the regional growth plan - known as the ‘Regional Development Framework’ while working with individual communities to develop and advance their own plans. As part of this effort, communities are obligated to communicate their planning goals and objectives with neighboring areas. The Community development division also oversees housing and redevelopment programs and implements strategies for regional parks and open space. One other important responsibility of the Community Development Division is the collection of regional data and analysis of regional growth trends and projections.[iii]

One of the drivers that led to the creation of the Council was the problems individual communities were having providing adequate sewage treatment for rapidly expanding areas. Today, the Environmental Services Division operates and maintains one of the best intercommunity wastewater distribution and treatment systems in the U.S. This system consists of approximately 600 miles of sewers that collect flow from 5,000 miles of sewers owned by 105 communities. Eight regional treatment plans treat about 250 million gallons of wastewater each day.[iv] The ability of this system to handle extremely large quantities of wastewater efficiently and cheaply gives the Twin Cities region a competitive advantage for business attraction. This Division is also responsible for environmental compliance, monitoring, and assessment, research and development, water resources assessment, and water supply planning for the region.

During its early years, the Council took over the Twin Cities’ privately owned regional bus system and saved it from collapse. Today, the Council’s Transportation Division is responsible for ensuring regional mobility, which is fundamental to the Twin Cities’ economic vitality and quality of life. With an underlying goal of reducing traffic congestion, the Council oversees transit planning activities, highway planning, air quality planning, travel forecasting, and aviation planning. Guided by the Council’s 2030 Regional Development Framework and the 2030 Transportation Policy Plan, the Council takes a long-range planning approach to transportation planning for the Twin Cities.

Planning issues do not follow municipal boundaries. The Twin Cities is an example of a region that really opened its eyes to that concept and developed a highly functional organization to address the regional issues it faces. This has proven to be a successful mode; the Twin Cities’ region has a strong economy supported by diverse industries, is home to headquarters of several ‘Fortune 500’ and ‘Fortune 1,000’ corporations, offers one of the highest median household incomes in the nation, offers a diverse array of arts and cultural amenities, and possesses one of the most extensive regional park and trail systems in the Country.[i]


[i] Snapshot of the Region. Metropolitan Council Website. Accessed October 3, 2011. http://www.metrocouncil.org/about/region.htm

[i] Metro Stats: Trends in Land Use in the Twin Cities Region. Metropolitan Council. August 2011. Accessed September 30, 2011. http://stats.metc.state.mn.us/stats/pdf/MetroStats_LandUse2010.pdf.

[ii] A Bold Experiment: The Met Council at 40. Twin Cities Public Television. 2007. Accessed September 21, 2011. http://metrocouncil.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=2&clip_id=118 .

[iii] Metropolitan Council Departments. Metropolitan Council Website. Accessed October 3, 2011.  http://www.metrocouncil.org/about/organization.htm#comdev.

[iv] Metropolitan Council: 2011 Unified Operating Budget. Adopted December 8, 2010. Accessed October 3, 2011. http://www.metrocouncil.org/about/2011Budget/2011OperatingBudget.pdf. 

 


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The Met Council: Overcoming Rivalry to Plan Regionally

by Christa Franzi 11. November 2011 17:10

The Twin Cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis have a deep-rooted rivalry that still exists today. Yet, through the development of the Met Council, an agency serving the 7-county Twin Cities region, these very different areas joined together to address transportation, water, wastewater, conservation, and planning issues with great efficiency and achievement. The following is the first piece of a two-part essay on the history and function of the Met Council.

Part I: A Union of Two Foes

Since Minneapolis and St. Paul were founded in the mid 1800’s, they have been in competition with each other, frequently engaging in sometimes humorous sibling-like quarrels. As they grew through the late 19th century, the two cities raced to erect large extravagant buildings. Their rivalry extended to such a degree that an architect working in one city was often prohibited to work in the other.[i]  During the United States Census of 1890, the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul actually kidnapped and arrested each other’s census takers to keep the other city from ‘growing’ bigger.[ii] This bitter rivalry became fully exposed during inter-city baseball games. Fueled by the post civil war baseball boom, any meeting of town teams or the cities’ professional clubs, the Saints and the Millers, sparked skirmishes between fans and/or players.[iii]

The cities were able to overcome this rivalry in the late 1960’s as they joined together to secure the Minnesota Twins (American League) and the Minnesota Vikings (National Football League), thus uniting fans of the east and west behind a single front. Completion of the interstate freeway between the two cities allowed them to grow even more closely together, both physically and in spirit. 

As the region began to experience rapid growth through the 60’s, the cities began to face issues that transected municipal boundaries. Backyard septic systems started to fail and untreated wastewater was being discharged directly into the region’s water bodies. Growing financial disparities made it difficult for communities to fund essential services and many began to provide unhealthy development incentives as a means of attracting development and improving their financial distress. Natural areas with sensitive habitats were being developed to accommodate the rapid growth of the region. Rising fares, declining ridership, and an aging bus fleet caused a near collapse of the Twin Cities’ privately owned bus company. [iv]

Many felt that these issues would only worsen as the metro area grew and regional cooperation was warranted. Spurred by these local issues and a growing national concern over the need to control urban sprawl, several organizations bonded together to advocate for creation of the Metropolitan Council, including many local governments, the Citizens League, the Metropolitan Section of the League of Minnesota Municipalities, the League of Women Voters, etc. [v]

These organizations called for coordination of planning and development within the Twin Cities metropolitan area, and its nearly 300 separate units of government, as a better way to address issues that were not being adequately addressed with the existing government arrangement. Heeding to this call, the Minnesota Legislature considered proposals and formulated a bill for a regional planning and coordinating body for the seven-county metropolitan area. The bill was signed by Governor Harold LeVander on May 25, 1967, who stated that the newly created Council would “[…] do a job which has proven too big for any single community.”  

The Council’s original mandate and set of powers was very modest: to deal with modernizing and coordinating the sanitary sewers (or lack thereof) in the seven-county metro area.  Over the years, various additional responsibilities and powers have been vested in the Council as the communities’ needs changed and as the concept of having a regional Council grew to be accepted.

 


[i]Mary Lethert Wingerd. Separated at Birth: The Sibling Rivalry of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Accessed September 28, 2011.  http://www.oah.org/pubs/nl/2007feb/wingerd.html.

[ii] “Census-Bred Bitterness: St. Paul and Minneapolis Have Locked Horns.” The New York Times. June 21, 1890. Accessed September 22, 2011. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9B0DEED7123BE533A25752C2A9609C94619ED7CF.

[iii] Stew Thornley, “Bitter Inter-City Rivalry Dies When Twins Arrived.” Research Journals Archive. Accessed September 25, 2011.  http://research.sabr.org/journals/bitter-inner-city-rivalry-died-when-twins-arrived.

[iv] Big Problems for a New Agency. Metropolitan Council Website. Accessed September 3, 2011. http://www.metrocouncil.org/about/HistoryNewAgency.htm.

[v] History of the Council. Metropolitan Council Website. Accessed August 22, 2011. http://www.metrocouncil.org/about/history.htm.

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About Camoin Associates

Over the past ten years, Camoin Associates has evolved into a professional service firm that utilizes its understanding of the public and private sector investment process to assist businesses and developers in capitalizing on funding, financing and tax programs established to encourage private investment. We also specialize in advising economic development organizations and municipalities in creating strategies, policies and programs that support investment and job creation.   [Click Here for More]

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