December 13, 2013
Dear friends,
Open Letter to Winnipeg
Re: NEECHI COMMONS
This letter is being circulated by the Canadian Worker
Co-operative Federation on behalf of the signatories listed below. These individuals are active in a cross
section of co-operative and community economic development organizations as
well as in universities.
The letter is intended to let you know about a remarkable
sister Co-operative that is blazing a trail in empowerment for its members and
social justice in the community. A Co-op doing such principled work that it
elevates the name of co-operative enterprise and by reflection enhances all of
our reputations. We are talking about Neechi Foods Co-operative in Winnipeg
(865 Main Street, at Euclid). This Co-op
needs your patronage and support.
Louise Champagne, the president of the Co-op and long-time
leader of the enterprise, shepherding it through more than 23 years of
operations and meeting all challenges, recently accepted the 2013 Excellence in
Aboriginal Business Leadership Award from the Asper School of Business,
University of Manitoba, on behalf of the Co-op. In her acceptance speech Louise
made the following comments:
“Neechi Foods Co-op Ltd. is a worker cooperative. This is a
form of economic democracy that encourages staff to develop a sense of business
ownership. Neechi means “friend”, “sister” or “brother” in Cree and Ojibwa.
On March 19 this year (2013) we held the Grand Opening of
Neechi Commons, our beautiful, 30,000 square foot, community business complex
at 865 Main Street, for which we received a Green Globes award for high
environmental standards. Previously we operated a nearby, small corner grocery
and Aboriginal specialty store for 23 years.
In Neechi’s early days we drew up a list of community economic
development principles:
•
creation of goods & services that are used
locally
•
purchases of locally produced goods
•
local reinvestment of surpluses (profits)
•
employment and training of local people
•
community-oriented business ownership
•
community health and
•
human dignity
We were the first grocery operation in Manitoba to not sell
cigarettes – ahead of the pharmacies! At our old store we have always had a
children’s fruit basket, subsidized by the staff, where the previous owner sold
cigarettes, war toys and Barbie dolls. We also have run various diabetes
prevention programs and played a key role in neighbourhood efforts to push back
street prostitution and other gang activities that became rampant in the mid
1990s.
All along we have understood that economic healing is needed to sustain personal and social healing.
This is the context in which Neechi Commons was born. We have taken what we did
at our old store to a much higher level, including a strong focus on regionally
harvested and processed foods, a lovely art store and gallery, a restaurant and
catering service backed up by an impressive commercial kitchen, a well equipped
bakery, and a neighbourhood supermarket with a fruit and vegetable courtyard,
freshwater fish and full meat service.”
Neechi Commons needs your help to achieve its goals. It
hopes to become the cornerstone for the revitalization of commerce in a
Winnipeg neighbourhood that has faced long-term economic hardship. The Co-op
has created over 50 new employment opportunities for aboriginal youth and other
neighbourhood residents.
Neechi Co-op has not chosen an easy path focused only on
commercial viability. It has chosen to blaze a trail to be a transformative
venture in the same spirit as other Co-operative pioneers. Its success will not
only be a beacon of light in its local neighbourhood but also a shining example
of the inherent power of the Co-operative form of enterprise to change lives
for the better.
The most obvious and simple way that you can support Neechi
is by purchasing products at the Commons.
Another way that you can help is by signing up for Neechi’s weekly
e-mail promotion and updates, at neechifoods@shaw.ca.
Your support can help to ensure the success of this
Co-operative enterprise. In the words of Louise Champagne: “We will remain heavily focused on achieving
the commercial profitability needed for long-term business and community
success. Neechi Commons symbolizes how Aboriginal People can regain control of
land and economic decision-making within a modern community context.”
Sincerely yours,
• Cindy Coker, Executive Director, SEED Winnipeg
• Hazel Corcoran, CWCF Executive Director, Calgary
• David Kerr, Co-op Consultant, Winnipeg
• Richard LeMoing, Director, Manitoba Co-operative
Association, Minnedosa, MB
• Marty Donkervoort, Social Enterprise Consultant and
Instructor, University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg
• Shaun Loney, Executive Director, BUILD (Building Urban
Industries for Local Development)
• Greg O’Neill, Co-operative Developer, Calgary
• Dr. Claudia Sanchez-Bajo, Chair of Co-operative
Enterprises, University of Winnipeg
• Lucas Stewart, General Manager, Manitoba Green Retrofit
Inc., Winnipeg
• Dr. Wanda Wuttunee, Professor, Native Studies & Director,
Aboriginal Business Education Partners, University of Manitoba
- Submitted by Bev
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