At the 2015 Consumer Cooperative Management Association (CCMA) Conference, you’ll join in a national conversation on how the food co-op sector can thrive in an increasingly competitive environment. To encourage this critical conversation to grow and continue beyond the conference, you’ll find plenty of time for networking built into the program June 11 – 13 in Boise, Idaho.
The CCMA Conference is less than a month away, but it’s not too late to register. Just click here. View a detailed program schedule here.
CCMA Tours, June 11, 1 – 5 p.m. All tours include a stop at the Boise Co-op and bus transportation to and from conference hotels. Admission is included in your registration package. Choose from the following concurrent options.
• Winner Winner Chicken Dinner Wine & Co-op Tour Join this Organic Valley-sponsored tour to explore family-owned and operated Huston Vineyards on Chicken Dinner Road in Idaho’s Snake River Valley Wine Region. Enjoy a selection of cheeses and cured meats catered by Organic Valley to complement the wine tasting and take home a Huston Vineyards wine glass. On the way back to Boise, this tour stops at Boise Co-op, which proudly sells Huston Vineyards wine.
• Ribbon of Jewels Parks and Monuments Tour This low-impact tour sponsored by Capital Impact Partners stops at Boise Co-op before exploring three Boise parks. The Boise River Greenbelt serves as the “ribbon” stringing together these parks, or “jewels,” each named after one of Boise’s women patrons. This tour will also stop at the Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial and the Boise Zoo.
• Boise Bike Tour Boise Bicycle Project, a non-profit bike co-op, will lead the Boise Bike Tour and provide a bike safety course beforehand to ensure road safety. You will explore stretches of Boise’s Greenbelt before biking to Boise Co-op and back to the hotel.
• Peaceful Belly Farm Tour A supplier for Boise Co-op, Peaceful Belly grows close to 200 types of mostly heirloom-variety vegetables, never uses GMO seeds and is certified Organic by the state of Idaho. On this tour, observe how Peaceful Belly’s vegetables, herbs, flowers, berries and chickens are raised. Peaceful Belly donates 1,000 pounds of food to hunger outreach programs and offers classes and workshops on gardening and cooking fresh, local foods.
Party at the Pen, June 11, 6 – 8 p.m. Our theme this year is “Break Through,” so we’re indulging in a little humor and kicking things off at Boise’s historic Old Idaho Penitentiary, once home to some of the West’s most notorious outlaws. Enjoy locally-sourced food, beer and wine along with photo-ops at this picturesque complex of stone buildings and rose gardens, courtesy of sponsor National Cooperative Bank. This party benefits the Howard Bowers Fund and is included in your registration package. Buses will run between the hotel and the Pen beginning at 6 p.m.
Co-op After Dark & Karaoke, June 12, 9 – 11 p.m. After dinner in downtown Boise, join conference attendees back at the Riverside Hotel’s Sapphire Lounge for drinks, dessert and Karaoke, sponsored by How Good.
Basque Block Party, June 13, 6 – 9 p.m. Boise is home to one of the world’s largest Basque communities—second only to Northern Spain’s Basque Region. (That region’s leading business is the federation of worker co-ops known as Mondragon.) Boise’s “Basque Block,” between 6th and Capital Boulevard on Grove Street, is a hub of Basque art, music, food, culture and history. It’s also the site for the CCMA wrap party on June 13 from 6 – 9 p.m., hosted by Boise Co-op. We’re shutting down the entire block and stocking up on white wine sangria, Spanish tapas and paella catered by nearby Basque Market. Enjoy a Basque dance performance and tour the Basque Museum and Cultural Center, where hundreds of years of rich history come to life. Bonus points if you dress in traditional Basque colors—red, green and white! Buses begin leaving from the conference hotels at 6 p.m. and will run every 20 minutes. Admission to this party is included in your registration package.
A special thanks to the following sponsors of CCMA networking events: