The Common Share-logo

The Common Share

Business & Economics Podcasts

Welcome to The Common Share, a podcast about the opportunities and challenges of developing co-operative businesses. The Common Share is produced by Co-operatives First, a business development organization that increases awareness and understanding of the co-op business model and supports co-operative business development in rural and Indigenous communities across western Canada.

Location:

Canada

Description:

Welcome to The Common Share, a podcast about the opportunities and challenges of developing co-operative businesses. The Common Share is produced by Co-operatives First, a business development organization that increases awareness and understanding of the co-op business model and supports co-operative business development in rural and Indigenous communities across western Canada.

Twitter:

@coops_first

Language:

English

Contact:

13063824410


Episodes

Co-operating among the cornstalks

3/19/2024
In this episode, Trista speaks to Lea Zeise and Jen Falck of Ohe·láku, a nonprofit co-op in Wisconsin. The co-op's members are Oneida families relearning how to grow traditional White Corn together and sharing the lessons they learn. This is a lovely conversation about using a co-operative to grow food for the community while embracing tradition and ceremony.

Duration:00:21:01

What can we learn from co-ops in Wisconsin?

2/28/2024
In this episode, Kyle spoke to Courtney Berner, Executive Director of the University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives. They talked about the co-op landscape in Wisconsin and how it compares to Canada, why Wisconsin is such an incubator for innovative co-operative development, and what we can learn from each other by looking across the border.

Duration:00:42:34

The Battle River Railway Cooperative

1/31/2024
Matt Enright is the general manager of the Battle River Railway Cooperative based in Forestburg, Alberta. A local grain farmer, Matt has served as GM since 2015. This new generation co-operative was formed in 2010 when area producers and residents bought the 52-mile stretch of rail from CN. In this episode, Kyle and Aasa talk to Matt about the impact the co-op has had on the region, and some of the lessons they’ve learned along the way.

Duration:00:26:20

Growing Canada's Renewable Energy Co-ops

11/30/2023
This summer, Aasa attended the "Scaling up the impact of renewable energy co-operatives in Canada" conference in Ottawa, where Renewable Energy Co-op (REC) leaders met to discuss how they could collaborate to grow their impacts. While there, she spoke to Johan Hamels of the Ottawa Renewable Energy Co-operative about what RECs are and why they're important for communities. Since the conference, the leaders who attended have been working towards a co-operative of RECs called Community Energy Co-operative Canada that creates a way for these co-ops to work together. With this entity quickly coming to fruition, please enjoy this conversation about the exciting impacts of renewable energy co-ops!

Duration:00:18:29

The benefits of business plans

10/20/2023
In this episode, Kyle speaks to James Grieve, Certified Management Consultant, about his approach to creating a business plan, including how to know when you need one, understanding the why of your business, and recognizing the value of experts and resources in this process.

Duration:00:36:43

The Caisse populaire Kahnawake and the importance of Indigenous financial institutions

9/11/2023
In this episode, our Director of Indigenous Relations, Trista Pewapisconias, spoke to Michael Rice – a founder and past manager of the Caisse Populaire Kahnawake, a hugely successful Indigenous credit union which has been around since 1987. He tells the story of how the credit union was started, the impact it’s had on its community, and benefits of Indigenous people having control over their own financial institutions.

Duration:00:33:06

A primer on co-op governance

7/31/2023
In this episode, Director of Education Kyle White had a great conversation with Federated Co-operatives Limited's General Counsel and Corporate Secretary (and Co-operatives First board chair) Sheldon Stener. Sheldon is an expert in governance with important insights for members of co-op boards, and gives an excellent primer for things for co-op directors to consider in their role.

Duration:00:27:03

Good Governance Lessons

6/30/2023
After six years of leading the Good Governance Matters course, our Director of Education Kyle White has heard a lot from co-op leaders. In this episode, we talked about the themes and lessons that have emerged from the conversations had during the course — the result is insights that can help any co-op board and a glimpse into the debates being had around board tables of co-ops of all kinds.

Duration:00:36:58

Co-op Development Training through an Indigenous lens

5/31/2023
Co-operatives are a way for people to work together to better their community and reach their common economic, social, and cultural goals. Indigenous people have practiced this community approach to economic development from time immemorial. But colonialization has impacted every aspect of Indigenous society, including historic economic development practices. Although the value of working co-operatively has not been lost, supports to create co-operative businesses aren’t readily available. To remedy this, a team came together in 2022 to start the Native Communities Cooperative Development training project (NCCD). The project supports the growth of co-operatives and their ability to add value, create markets, facilitate food security, and build prosperity in Indigenous communities. Our Director of Indigenous Relations, Trista Pewapisconias, was a member of this team, and travelled to Minnesota earlier this year to meet with the project's participants and organizers. In this episode, she has a roundtable discussion with project leaders Pamela Standing of the Minnesota Indigenous Business Alliance, Bijiibah Begaye of The Cooperative Catalyst of New Mexico, and Karri-lynn Paul of the Coady Institute at St. Francis Xavier University.

Duration:00:29:28

Bridging rural-urban divides

4/24/2023
In this episode, we welcome Dr. Dionne Pohler back to the show. Dr. Pohler, Associate Professor at the Edwards School of Business at the University of Saskatchewan, and CRS Research Chair at the Canadian Centre for the Study of Co-operatives, talks about her research on rural-urban divides, and how co-operatives can help.

Duration:00:28:27

Deliberative mini-publics: a new idea for co-op governance

3/27/2023
In this episode, we speak to Dr. Simon Pek of the University of Victoria about a new idea for co-op governance: deliberative mini-publics. These versatile groups can be a great way for co-operatives to engage and gather information from their memberships in deliberate and effective ways.

Duration:00:29:02

Project Equity and employee ownership

2/20/2023
Project Equity is an organization that promotes and supports the employee ownership of businesses. In this episode, Kyle spoke to David Gray, Project Equity's Client Services Manager, about worker co-operatives and why transitioning to worker ownership can be a great option for a business.

Duration:00:35:17

DIY rural internet, with Jesse Hirsh

1/25/2023
Rural communities that wish they had better access to the internet often don't realize they could create that service for themselves. In this episode Jesse Hirsh, a futurist, speaker, and consultant, talks about how he brought broadband to his own rural area, and others can too.

Duration:00:43:26

Co-ops and loyalty: insights from two co-op researchers

12/16/2022
In this episode, two co-op researchers tell us about their work looking at people’s loyalty to co-operatives. Danika Dinko is the Executive Director of the Saskatchewan Co-operative Association who wrote a thesis exploring the opinions of consumers in regards to shopping at co-ops versus Investor-owned firms. Stan Yu is the Research and Communications Coordinator for the Canadian Centre for the Study of Co-operatives, who looked at whether the employees of co-operatives tend to be loyal co-op customers.

Duration:00:33:04

Moving forward with your co-op start-up

11/25/2022
In this episode, we talk to our new Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Cathy Edwards. As a founding member of Heartlinked Community Service Co-op, entrepreneur, and business plan writer, Cathy has great insights about getting a co-op running, hiring staff, getting your message out, and more!

Duration:00:36:47

How a co-op's leaders can create cohesion and purpose

10/28/2022
Co-operatives are businesses that bring people together — but how do you make sure everyone involved in your co-op is working towards the same goal? In this episode, our Director of Education Kyle White talks about what a co-op's leaders can do to make sure its members, staff, and board are all on the same page about the co-op's purpose and goals, which is key to its success. To learn more about this topic, take our FREE Co-op Professional certificate course: https://cooperativesfirst.com/become-a-certified-co-op-professional/

Duration:00:38:55

Building inclusive co-op resources

9/26/2022
Co-ops can be a great way for people to tackle local issues and embrace opportunities. But not everyone has access to resources that can help them learn about the model in a way that speaks to them. The non-profit organization In My Own Voice (iMOVe) recently created a guidebook to starting conversations about co-operatives, written specifically for Black, Indigenous, and Persons of Colour (BIPOC). In this episode, Laurie Cook talks about why and how they created this guide, and why it's important to create resources with the audience in mind.

Duration:00:33:11

Co-ops, fiduciary duties, and the case of MEC

8/24/2022
In this episode, we talk to Dr. Anna Lund about what fiduciary duties are, what they mean for co-ops, and take a deep dive into the decisions made by the board of Mountain Equipment Co-op. Dr. Lund is a law professor at the University of Alberta who studies insolvency and bankruptcy law, and gives an insightful look at some key concepts for co-op boards.

Duration:00:33:18

Co-ops and sustainability: A conversation with FCL's Vern Albush

7/22/2022
Federated Co-operatives Limited is committed to sustainability. In this episode, FCL's Director of Sustainability, Vern Albush, joined us to talk about what sustainability means, and why co-ops are well-placed to be leaders in sustainable practices.

Duration:00:25:35

An abundance approach to economic development

6/8/2022
In this episode, Karri-Lynn Paul tells our Indigenous Relations Lead Trista Pewapisconias about the "abundance" approach to economic and community development. In this approach communities ask, "what gifts and talents do we already have?" and build on those advantages.

Duration:00:26:15