St. Paul, Minn. – October is National Co-op Month, and U.S. Co-ops, the national association for cooperative businesses, just celebrated with their 10th annual IMPACT Conference in Washington, DC.
To showcase the ways cooperatives are making an impact on their members and in their communities, U.S. Co-ops held their second annual Film Fest awards ceremony yesterday as part of the IMPACT Conference to announce the winners. They also hosted a panel discussion with the awardees.
The Film Fest recognizes the best Long Form, Short Form and Social Media videos, with the winners in each category receiving a $2,000 case prize.
Out of the 49 total submissions, National Co+op Grocers is pleased to recognize two of their member co-ops who won in their respective categories:
Best Social Media video: Hanover Co-op in New Hampshire and Vermont. Watch their winning video.
“In our 90 years, we have weathered so much (including a few questionable hair trends) but have never lost focus on building and supporting community in our corner of the world,” said Dawn Archambeault, Director of Marketing & Consumer Relations at Hanover Co-op. “Our dedication to supporting local producers, honoring our member-driven values, and taking care of those who take care of us will no doubt allow us to weather the next 90 years. We are so appreciative of this recognition.”
Best Short Form video: Briar Patch Food Co-op in Grass Valley and Auburn, Calif. Watch their winning video.
“This recognition is especially meaningful because the video reflects something we believe deeply at BriarPatch Food Co-op: When we support one another, the whole community becomes stronger. We work every day to strengthen our local food system, support small businesses, and keep resources circulating in our watershed. We hope that spirit inspires others,” said Chris Maher, CEO of BriarPatch Food Co-op.
All submissions will be available on U.S. Co-ops’ YouTube channel.
“Our second annual Film Fest at IMPACT highlighted some incredible stories of cooperation from Alaska and California to New Hampshire and Vermont,” said Virginia Brown, U.S. Co-ops Director for Cooperative Engagement and Member Relations. “Cooperatives strengthen communities and local economies in so many ways and videos are such a powerful way to share those stories."
About National Co+op Grocers
National Co+op Grocers (NCG), founded in 1999, is a business services cooperative for retail food co-ops located throughout the United States. NCG helps unify food co-ops in order to optimize operational and marketing resources, strengthen purchasing power and ultimately offer more value to natural food co-op owners and shoppers everywhere.
NCG’s 169 community-owned food co-ops operate 241 stores in 40 states with combined annual sales of nearly $2.8 billion. NCG is a winner of the dotCoop Global Awards for Cooperative Excellence and a Certified B Corp. Learn more about NCG and find a map of member co-ops at grocery.coop.
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Media inquiries may be directed to meghan.flynn@ncg.coop.