The Cooperative Development Specialist will support projects involving people who are interested instarting cooperatively owned businesses within the food system, including marketing fresh and value-added fruits and vegetables, retail grocery stores, and farms operated as worker cooperatives. The specialist will also provide ancillary education related to general farm production, marketing, and business planning. Many of our project partners include groups who speak English as a second language. The agriculture projects include those based on fruit, vegetables, and processed foodproducers in separate projects and includes working with local technical assistance provider partners for each project. This position allows for the Specialist to grow into work within other sectors, including housing and non-rural service oriented worker cooperatives.
PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES:
As a Cooperative Development Specialist, you’ll be:
•Talking to farmers, ranchers, and small business owners in the food supply chain about strategies for improving their businesses through cooperation
•Completing market research and feasibility studies, including conducting producer surveys, interviews with key informants, and building financial pro formas
•Assessing the readiness of organizers and helping them get to the next level
•Developing relationships with partners with specific expertise in different areas to help our clients make strategic decisions
•Developing presentations and written materials for trainings
•Organizing and marketing conferences
•Evaluating current and potential projects and preparing progress reports for funders
A full job description may be found here.