Title
Co-Op Month 2021 proclamation
Memorandum
PROCLAMATION
Co-Op Month
October 2021
WHEREAS, Cooperative businesses are a unique form of collaborative business which exist in large numbers throughout the United States and the world; and
WHEREAS, 120 million US residents are members of 48,000 US co-ops and more than 700 million people are co-op members in over 100 countries; and
WHEREAS, Cooperative businesses in Michigan employ thousands of people and contribute billions of dollars to Michigan’s economy every year, and remain in the state through good times and bad; and
WHEREAS, There are cooperative businesses in nearly every sector of the U.S. economy: in agriculture, finance, child care, energy, housing, food, education, retail, and more; and
WHEREAS, Cooperatives in Michigan, and the Washtenaw County area are local, self-help businesses that combine free-enterprise with social benefits to the community; and
WHEREAS, Co-op members own, use, and run their businesses; and
WHEREAS, Cooperative businesses operate by a set of principles which provide a model of responsiveness to the consumer and the community that all businesses and governments can emulate, and include voluntary and open membership democratic member control, members’ economic participation, autonomy and independence, education and training about the benefits and practices of cooperation, cooperation among cooperatives, concern for community; and
WHEREAS, The Ann Arbor community has been served by a large number, and wide variety of cooperative businesses for many years, including but not limited to, The Inter-Cooperative Council at the University of Michigan (student housing), University of Michigan Credit Union, Lake Trust Credit Union, Michigan Educational Credit Union, Dearborn Financial Credit Union, Stone School Cooperative Nursery, Dexter Nursery Co-op, First United Methodist Cooperative Nursery, People’s Food Co-op in Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti Food Co-op, Farm Bureau (insurance), Midwest Organic Food Co-op, Forest Hills Cooperative Housing, Arrowwood Hills Cooperative Housing, Pinelake Village Cooperative, St. David's Co-op Apartments, REI, True Value Hardware Stores, Ace Hardware Stores, Sassafras Tech Collective, Potters Guild, University Townhouses, and The Hive Co-op; and
WHEREAS, True Value, Ace Hardware and other similar cooperatives allow small locally-owned businesses to compete with corporate entities such as Home Depot and Lowes by buying and marketing collectively; and
WHEREAS, October is Co-op Month, first so designated in 1948 by the Minnesota Association of Cooperatives, and celebrated by co-ops throughout the United States as a time to honor the service to their members and their communities provided by cooperative businesses; and
NOW THEREFORE, I, Christopher Taylor, Mayor of Ann Arbor, Michigan, on behalf of the City Council and citizens of Ann Arbor, do hereby officially honor the cooperative businesses that serve the Ann Arbor community, and encourage city residents to explore the benefits available through cooperative businesses by proclaiming the month of October as “Co-op Month” in the City of Ann Arbor.
I hereby set my hand and seal
This 18th day of October 2021
Christopher Taylor
Mayor of the City of Ann Arbor