A Whole New Network in Durham, NC
CPA Co-op is growing! Building on our success in DC, we are launching a new co-op in Durham, North Carolina.
We believe in strength in numbers. The more organizations purchasing through our cooperative, the stronger we are as a community.
Last week, 31 leaders from 24 churches, schools, non-profits, and credit unions in Durham came together to cast a vision of what a co-op they would build together could become. We created a two minute snapshot of our conversations to give you a glimpse of what the early days of building a community-owned cooperative looks like:
Are you a school/church administrator, operations director in Durham, NC? We invite you into this effort and explore the possibilities for how your work can be supported and magnified through the power of the group. The information below gives you a sense of our next steps and where we’re headed. Please click here (or some other call to action) to learn more and connect with one of our community leaders.
What's next
Data Collection / Research: In the weeks ahead, we will be sitting down one-on-one with the organizations in the group to review their non-personnel expenses and discover opportunities for savings and collaboration.
Commitments / MOUs: 7 institutions have already signed MOUs expressing their commitment to become members of a Durham purchasing co-op if and only if the co-op can deliver their institution meaningful savings. We'd like to get to 20 MOU's before the end of the year.
Expanding the table: Who else can you invite to join us in this effort?
Potential Timeline
November - December: Data Collection, Inviting more institutions, Commitments, & Business planning
January - February: Gather for another meeting to share the draft of the summarized data, explore projections for revenue and costs with members who have committed, and invite member-owners to lead specific program work (i.e. copiers, IT, Janitorial, etc.)
March - April: Group-negotiated offerings begin delivering value (i.e. HVAC up and running with group process, preferred vendors selected, CPA Terms & Conditions negotiated, preferred rates for members, on-going performance accountability, if there are issues)
May - June: The new arrangements secured in March - April lead to savings beginning to accrue to participating members
And if you’re new to CPA co-op, you can learn more about our work by checking out our video page.