Please note that terms of membership are likely to change through a motion that will be voted upon by 12/28 .

• New potential Member-Owners: You can still become a Member-Owner with our existing membership options, however they are likely to change soon.  
• Existing Member-Owners: Please vote on options for new membership 0ptions

Frequently Asked Questions about the Motion

How do I vote on this motion? What is the deadline? 

• Each Member-Owner can vote once using this googleform, up until 12/28; all voting will be online.
• If you have a problem with the googleform, please email eatlocal@electriccityfood.coop.
• Our Member Relations team will oversee this process to ensure that voting happens under our “one member, one vote” equity policy.
• The Board of Directors will announce the results by end of day 12/29.

How do I know if I am eligible to vote? 

• Each Full-Equity Member-Owner, or Member-Owner in good standing, is eligible to vote on this motion.  If you are unclear on your voting status as a Member-Owner, please contact eatlocal@electriccityfood.coop.

How do I engage in dialogue with others about the motion? Given that we will not have an in-person meeting re: the vote, if you’d like to raise questions or deliberate with others:  

• Please send eatlocal@electriccityfood.coop an email with your question or comments, and a member of our BOD or Member Relations team will reach out to you via your preferred mode of contact. 
• When Member-Owners vote, you can also express comments in the googleform. 

Will the $25 Membership continue to be a family/household membership or is this an individual membership? 

• Short answer: YES, the $25 Membership will continue to be a family/household membership, where one household Member-Ownership has one vote.
• Longer answer: If your household is currently a Full Equity Member Owner, you could gift the opportunity of Member-Ownership to 7 of your family members.

 What are the pros and cons of having a family/household membership versus having each household member become a Full Equity Member-Owner? 

• A core benefit of Member-Ownership is that each Member-Owner has voting rights in accordance with ECFC by-laws. Please keep in mind that our by-laws clearly state our equity principle of “one member, one vote.” If you wish to have every member of your household enjoy the right to participate as a voting member of ECFC, each member of your household will need to become a Member-Owner individually. 
• A core benefit of a family/household membership is that the benefits of patronage from all of your household members goes into the same account. This may be easier for a household to manage and concentrate patronage benefits. That said, a household could choose to concentrate all of their individual patronage benefits into one Member-Owner account, and still retain each of their individual voting rights as Member-Owners.

May Member-Owners have the option of a refund of the difference between $25 and $200?  No, Member-Owners do not have the option of a refund of their investment in ECFC.

• Member-Owners invested with the understanding that, in accordance with ECFC by-laws, capital raised through investment by Member-Owners is to be (and has been) managed by the Board for the purposes of developing ECFC as a cooperative grocery; as such, preliminary investments have supported marketing studies, community events, and many other functions of ECFC.
• This motion is exclusively about changing the price of Member-Ownership. The elected Board of Directors set the original price, but price changes must be voted upon by Member-Owners.

As we practice the 6th principle of cooperative economics, “coops support coops,” what will cooperation look like between Electric City Food Coop and Honest Weight Food Coop? 

• ECFC & HW are still exploring a diversity of ways we can support each other in our efforts to nourish our communities and support cooperative economic development in the Capital Region.
• ECFC has long-maintained that there will be no member work requirements for our Co-op (see FAQs below).  However, Honest Weight Food Coop does require Member-Owners to meet volunteer hour requirements to vote.

What are the pros and cons of requiring Member-Owners to invest volunteer time in the management of the cooperative grocery? 

Pros: Cooperative enterprises are for the people, by the people.  They thrive when their members not only shop there, but also actively participate in the governance of the coop.  Rewarding active participation in the life of the coop (e.g. through voting rights and store discounts) makes sense.  Honest Weight’s model, where Member-Owner status and voting rights are contingent on meeting required volunteer investment hours, has been central to the culture of this enduring cooperative enterprise. 

Cons: ECFC Board members have heard concerns from our legal counsel and other Member-Owners that this model would likely be inappropriate for our Schenectady location. 

• ECFC’s  “One member, one vote” principle is violated in the case of Working Member-Owners in that only Working Members have voting rights even though the cost of membership is the same for everyone.
• ECFC Member-Owners have voiced concerns that not everyone can afford to work for free; this would likely creating barriers to inclusion and equity in our Schenectady community.  
• Employment law is complicated when it comes to volunteer requirements.  “Employment laws give certain rights to employees, like the right to minimum wage, to reasonable work hours, to a safe and health workplace, to protection from discrimination, to compensation for workplace injuries, etc. Employment laws are designed to cover as many people as possible, so that no workers are left unprotected by a loophole.  The safe thing is to assume that everyone working for a cooperative is an employee, and then work backward from there to see if you can find any exceptions.” https://www.co-oplaw.org/knowledge-base/employment-law/ 

Frequently Asked Questions (General)

How do I become a member? All you need to do is fill out and submit a short membership form, either online or a paper form, and then pay the membership fee, all at once or in installments. As long as you keep making installment payments toward the total fee, you are considered a member with voting privileges.

If I’m not a member can I still shop there? Absolutely!

How do I pay? You can pay by mailing a check in with a printed form, either downloaded from this website or from one of our printed brochures, or by PayPal through this website after filling out and submitting the online form.

How will my membership money be used? Until the Co-op opens its doors, some membership funds may be used to further the Co-op’s advancement in the community by way of funding market and/or feasibility studies and advertising to increase our community support.  The Co-op also hosts several small fundraisers and events throughout the year to help cover administrative costs and reduce the need to access membership funds.

What if the unthinkable happens and you don’t open. Will I get my money back? As with most investments, there is no guarantee.  All invested funds will be managed by the Board of Directors you elect for the purposes of opening and managing the cooperative grocery.

Do I have to pay all at once? We accept installment payments. Online, we are only set up for $20 or $50 installments, but you may make payments of a lower amount by mailing in a check. As long as you continue to make payments on invoices issued toward the $200 goal, you will be a voting member.

Once I pay the full amount, will it be for life? We hope so, but it’s possible that the membership could decide that it needs to raise money for some unforeseen reason.  As a voting member, you’d be a part of that decision process!

Some co-ops require members to work. Will you require that? Nope!  There are no member work requirements for our Co-op.

Will you carry bulk items, and what does “bulk” mean? Buying in bulk means that the item is not in individual packages. You bring a container to fill and you pay by weight or volume. We plan to carry bulk items such as spices, grains, or cooking oils.

When will you open? Once we build the community support, fundraise and build out the Co-op.  Your support is one more step towards that goal!  For more detailed information check out our timeline!

Will the store create jobs? Absolutely! Right now we’re all volunteers.  As we move toward opening, we will need paid staff and management.

How can I help now? Join us for events, invite friends to join the Co-op, host a house party, nominate yourself or another Member Owner to serve on the Board of Directors, invite us for a presentation to a community group, join a committee, send articles to newsletters of organizations to which you belong, like us on Facebook and Instagram, write grants, use other skills you have to move us forward.

In what ways are your board members qualified to serve? Our board and leadership team consists of a variety of professionals from throughout the community.

Have you talked to other cooperatives for advice? Yes! We continue to seek and receive advice from all of the local cooperatives, as well as cooperatives all over the country. Cooperatives cooperate with one another as a part of their ethos.