Section 3 Community Served
Population to be served (USDA ERS Atlas)
9. Please provide a description of the population your retail store will serve including the 2019 Census Tract data from the USDA ERS Food Access Research Atlas (USDA ERS - Go to the Atlas).
Answer:
ECCG will be located in a downtown area that has not had a full-service grocery store since 2001. Despite recent reinvestment, the City of Schenectady remains a federally designated entitlement community, considered “distressed” due to current socio-economic conditions. According to the US Census Bureau’s 2022 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, the City’s poverty rate is 21.2%. Almost 35% of households with children live below the poverty level.
As reflected by Maps 1-5 in our Operation & Management Plan (Q3), the co-op site is located at 251 State Street, Schenectady, NY, placing ECCG on the main downtown corridor in the City of Schenectady (NY Route 5), near interstate highway 890, and a short walk from the Capital Region’s first multimodal mobility hub with 10 bus lines. As such, ECCG is well positioned to serve a wide regional community (Map 1), while also increasing food security for underserved residents of Schenectady’s inner city neighborhoods (Maps 2-5). The 2020 Census shows that 2,642 residents live within ¼ mile and 5,379 live within ½ mile of our site in an area with low vehicle access (Map 4).
The USDA ERS Food Access Research Atlas shows that the co-op site is within 0.1 miles (2 blocks) from an area that is Low Income and Low Access at 1 and 10 miles (Map 5). This site is only a 9 minute bus ride from the Sycamore Collaborative Food Pantry, the largest source of free, healthy food in Schenectady County, serving over 600,000 meals each year to residents experiencing food insecurity (Maps 5 and 6). ECCG has partnered with the Sycamore Collaborative to offer no-cost member-ownership opportunities through its Solidarity Initiative, so that community members served by the pantry can benefit from patronage dividends and co-op deals, as well as participate in democratic governance of the food co-op. ECCG has set up similar partnerships with Schenectady Greenmarket Food Box Program, YWCA, SEAT Center, and other community-serving organizations.
Outreach Strategies for public & partner organizations
10. Please describe your outreach strategies to engage the public and partnering organizations throughout the project.
Answer:
ECCG is just one part of the solution to increasing food access and building a resilient food system. Responding to critical vulnerabilities in our food systems revealed by COVID-19, the City of Schenectady invested $600,000 in collective efforts of the Schenectady County Food Council (SCFC), a coalition with representatives from ECCG and 20+ other organizations including schools, social services, community-based organizations, private businesses, county staff, and elected leaders.
SCFC envisions a Schenectady County where all residents have equitable access to nourishing and culturally appropriate foods that are provided by a locally-rooted, regenerative, and resilient food system. SCFC works to ensure a space for all to identify community-driven solutions through community engagement, advocacy, and cross-sector collaboration. SCFC’s Working Groups and Steering Committee members meet monthly to strategize, as well to host monthly open gatherings at popular community spaces (e.g. parks, libraries, churches) where diverse residents and other local food system actors have the opportunity to connect, educate, and mobilize together. Conversations among working groups have already translated into new state legislation and collectively endorsed policy objectives.
SCFC places food sovereignty at the heart of its organizing efforts. Food sovereignty requires that those most affected by the food system - farmers, producers, consumers, and neighbors experiencing food insecurity - have a seat at decision-making tables. ECCG Member-Owners have ownership and governance rights enabling them to participate in project development, activities, operations, and successes. Currently, 14% of Member-Owners live in ZIP code 12305 (Downtown), and 75% live in Schenectady County, meaning decision making is done at a local level. Community members learn about ECCG through SCFC events, and ECCG members stay updated about SCFC events through the ECCG newsletter and social media posts.
Engagement of Underserved Communities
11. Please describe how the underserved community in which the proposed project is located will, or has been, engaged in project planning and implementation.
Answer:
Since its inception, ECCG has actively engaged underserved communities in Schenectady in planning and implementing a cooperative grocery that is accessible to all. Recognizing barriers to co-op ownership, ECCG reduced the ownership cost from $200 to $25 and introduced a free Solidarity Member-Ownership option to include community members experiencing food insecurity, homelessness, and other challenges.
In 2023, ECCG enhanced its outreach with active social media engagement and monthly newsletters, inviting Member-Owners to participate in committees and activities. The Member Relations Team organized community engagement at over 30 events, including Juneteenth, Schenectady Pride, Caribbean Cultural Festival, and several school and wellness events, establishing a co-op presence at these diverse gatherings to reach a broader audience.
In October 2023, ECCG engaged Member-Owners in a rebranding effort, gathering input through a survey that led to a refreshed brand, logo, and website. In November, ECCG hosted Co-op 101 workshops at local organizations, educating the community on cooperative principles and community-led business models, increasing awareness of the co-op’s mission.
ECCG has had a 140% increase in Member-Ownership since 2022, attributed to expanded outreach and a more diverse, community-oriented Board. This growth was celebrated at events such as the Beloved Community Pie Socialin January 2024, co-hosted with the NAACP to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. So far in 2024, ECCG has participated in 29 events, including environmental, LGBTQ+, and voter registration gatherings, alongside well-attended downtown activities.
As ECCG moves forward, leaders will conduct community outreach to two distinct groups: consumers & producers, to inform our story design and policy development on equitable hiring practices and equitable procurement that prioritizes MBE/WBE.
Inspired by broad-based support for ECCG, the City and County of Schenectady have committed $4 million.
Food Security Impact: Goals & Tracking
12. Describe how this project will reduce food insecurity and what tools will be used to assess change.
Answer:
Bringing a community-owned grocery store to life in Downtown Schenectady is about more than just reducing food insecurity; it’s about creating food dignity and food sovereignty. For over two decades, conventional chain supermarkets have been unwilling to invest in a grocery store in Downtown Schenectady or its adjacent urban neighborhoods. The Electric City Community Grocery will, at long last, provide Schenectady residents with a store that is their own - that sells the products they desire, that they can easily access.
In reality, every transaction that occurs at the grocery will be reducing food insecurity: people are buying groceries in a place where groceries were not previously available. Using the Point of Sale (POS) system and Co-Metrics sales dashboards from Colluminate, the grocery will closely monitor key indicators to assess its direct impact on food insecurity.
Out of its total customers/store sales, EECG will track the percentage and number of:
- customers paying with SNAP/EBT
- customers utilizing the Double Up Food Bucks Program
- total sales paid for with SNAP/EBT and Double Up Food Bucks redemptions
- total sales of WIC approved products paid for via WIC
- total sales of Co+op Basics Everyday Low Price products
- purchases made by Solidarity Initiative Member-Owners
In 2023, ECCG created the Solidarity Initiative to offer no-cost memberships through community organizations that address food insecurity, homelessness, job training and community empowerment, including the Sycamore Collaborative, Social Enterprise and Training (SEAT) Center, the YWCA, and Schenectady Greenmarket Food Box program. ECCG administers the Solidarity Initiative using online sign-up forms and communication with partners. To date, 85 Member-Owners have joined through this program.
The EECG will also poll the community's direct service providers, for service provision-based data, and/or anecdotal evidence of any impact that staff is seeing on the individuals and families they serve.
