Networking Events

Community Service Project: Operation Sack Lunch

NCBA is offering attendees the opportunity to participate in Operation Sack Lunch, a community service project scheduled on Tuesday, October 2 from 2 – 5 pm at 210 Compass Center in Seattle, Washington. There is no additional fee to participate, and transportation is included.

Operation Sack Lunch operates on the premise that “Nutritional Excellence is a right we are born to, not a privilege we earn”. OSL serves three nutritionally dense meals a day, seven days a week, to the hungry living in the Seattle area. OSL has emerged from being a small grassroots effort to become one of Seattle’s foremost leaders in nutritional quality for compromised populations. OSL is the only staffed meal provider serving an outside population. Their work is vital to many Seattle area human service providers and has become a pivotal link through their collaborations and relationships with human service providers, volunteers, donors, suppliers, and the communities they serve.
OSL’s ultimate goal is that homelessness, hunger, poverty, and discrimination cease to exist, and that every person is able to find their worth and contribute positively to our neighborhood, the world.

To learn more about Operation Sack Lunch, please visit their website: www.opsacklunch.org

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Tour of Local Cooperatives

NCBA is offering two tours of local cooperatives in Seattle, scheduled for Wednesday, October 3 from 12:30 – 4:30 pm. The tour buses will depart the hotel lobby at 12:15 pm. There is an additional fee of $50 to participate in a co-op tour, and a box lunch will be provided.

Tour #1

  • Seattle Wholesale Growers MarketSeattle Wholesale Growers Market provides the very best the Pacific Northwest has to offer in cut flowers, greens and ornamentals from over twenty local flower farms. Established in 2011 and located inside an historic warehouse building in Seattle’s Georgetown neighborhood, the cooperative market received wide acclaim during its first year in business, and now boasts nineteen members from three states.
  • BECUBECU is Washington’s leading and largest credit union. BECU is a member-owned, not-for-profit financial institution that members can trust and experience the best value and service. BECU is committed to enriching strong communities, and is dedicated to improving lives through outreach efforts focused on homeownership, education, financial literacy, and support for the credit union movement.
  • PCC Natural MarketsPCC is a full-service natural foods grocer, featuring a great selection of natural and locally-grown organic fruits and vegetables, dairy and meat — produced without synthetic chemicals, additives or genetically modified ingredients. PCC started as a food-buying club of 15 families in 1953. Today, it has grown into the largest natural food retail cooperative in the United States.
  • Northwest Woodworkers’ GalleryNorthwest Woodworkers’ Gallery is a woodworking cooperative dedicated to promoting the highest quality craftsmanship, original design, and fine furniture. They are owned by the woodworkers who show at their gallery. The gallery was founded by a small group of members who wanted to create a community venue for the sale and display of superior handcrafted woodwork. In the early years each member put in their own time renovating the gallery and working in the store. Over the years the businesses modest beginnings have grown, to now include 21 active member-owners and more than 200 non-member wood artisans, as well as a knowledgeable gallery staff.

Tour #2

  • People’s MemorialPEOPLE’S MEMORIAL™ Funeral Cooperative is a member-owned funeral home founded to serve the communities of the Seattle-King County area. People’s Memorial has approximately 80,000 living member/owners.
  • Central Food Co-opCentral Co-op is a member-owned natural foods cooperative in the heart of Seattle dedicated to sustainable practices, community accountability, and the local food economy. Despite increased competition within the natural foods marketplace, the co-op continues to operate a successful community-owned grocery.
  • REI
    What began as a group of 23 mountain climbing buddies is now the nation’s largest consumer cooperative. But no matter how large REI has grown, their roots remain firmly planted in the outdoors.
  • Equal Exchange Espresso Bar
    Equal Exchange Espresso Bar was voted “Best of Ballard” by Ballard News-Tribune readers! Their goal is to provide delicious drinks and great service to the Ballard community while advancing Equal Exchange’s mission to support Fair Trade, environmental stewardship, and cooperatives. They keep these principles in mind with every purchasing decision, from their organic milk and half-and-half to fairly traded chai and chocolate sauce, from their compostable (or reusable!) cups to ethically sourced hats and hoodies.

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Social & Networking Dinner

NCBA will host a special Social & Networking Dinner on Tuesday, October 2 from 5:30–6:30 p.m. at the Central Cinema, in downtown Seattle. The event will take place prior to the viewing excerpts of the forthcoming SHIFT CHANGE documentary. Attendees will be responsible for paying for their own meal, drinks and tip.

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Co-op Documentary Preview: SHIFT CHANGE

With rapidly growing inequalities in wealth and income, many are wondering how we can change the rules of the economic game to benefit more than just the lucky 1%. In addition, there is a growing interest in businesses that are democratically owned and managed by their workers, which provide secure family-wage jobs while also being profitable, innovative and responsive to local communities.

SHIFT CHANGE is a new documentary film that looks at the promise of thriving worker-run companies in cities across the United States. Award-winning Seattle producers, Dworkin and Young, will present exclusive sneak peeks from the film for the NCBA audience at Central Cinema. The film features unprecedented coverage of the Mondragón industrial cooperatives in the Basque region of Spain, which have transformed an economic backwater into one of the most productive and equitable regions in Europe.

This sneak peek of SHIFT CHANGE is being held at Central Cinema on Tuesday, October 2 from 6:30–8:30 pm. Central Cinema is located at 1411 21st Avenue, Seattle, WA 98122. Telephone: 206.328.3230. There is an additional fee of $5 to attend this event.

Questions?

Contact Safiyyah Abdal-Haqq, NCBA’s Sales Operations Associate via email or call (202) 442-2325.

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