10th Annual Co-op Innovation Awards provide $170,000 in grants to organizations in Maryland, Michigan, Montana and Washington, DC

Through this grant funding, Community Purchasing Alliance Co-op can expand its cooperative purchasing of school meals to public charter schools. [photo courtesy NCB]Four innovative organizations in four regions have received a combined $170,000 in catalytic grant funding from Capital Impact Partners' 2024 Co-op Innovation Awards, which aim to increase cooperative development in disinvested communities.

This year brings two significant milestones. First, these are the 10th annual awards. Launched in 2015, the program has now surpassed $1 million. In total, a combined $1.025 million in grants has been awarded to 30 innovative organizations across the country. These awardees have subsequently leveraged their awards to secure more than $13 million in additional funding from foundations, investors and government agencies.

The 2024 awards, issued by National Cooperative Bank and Capital Impact Partners, are providing catalytic grant funding to projects such as:

• Lowering the cost of school meals via group purchasing
• Creating more cooperatively-owned real estate projects
• Supporting employee-owned restaurants nationwide
• Developing a food distribution hub for rural and Native communities

"Ever since Capital Impact Partners was founded more than four decades ago-as part of a federal effort to encourage co-op development-we have deployed more than $300 million in financial capital to worker-owned and resident-owned cooperatives," said Ellis Carr, president and CEO of the Momentus Capital branded family of organizations, which includes Capital Impact Partners, among others. "The Co-op Innovation Awards have provided another key tool through our continuum of capital for building generational wealth while increasing access to quality jobs, healthy foods, affordable housing and the other pillars that every community deserves in order to thrive."

"Providing financial grants to spur new co-op development is critical in helping cooperatives grow and prosper across the United States," said Casey Fannon, president and CEO of National Cooperative Bank. "We are proud to continue our support of the Co-op Innovation Award and to celebrate its 10th year in helping cooperatives thrive while improving the communities they serve."

In another milestone, the award pool was expanded this year through the participation of additional sponsors Rochdale Capital; Wells Fargo; Ford & Paulekas, LLC; National Co+op Grocers; and Gallagher Evelius & Jones LLP.

A total of 60 organizations applied for this year's Co-op Innovation Awards. The 2024 awardees are:

• Community Purchasing Alliance Cooperative; Washington, DC, $50,000
• Commongrounds Cooperative; Traverse City, Michigan, $50,000
• Red Emma's Cooperative Corporation and Red Emma's Education Fund; Baltimore, Maryland, $50,000
• Montana Cooperative Development Center; Great Falls, Montana, $20,000

Grants Will Help These Organizations and Their Communities

"It has been really exciting to witness what so many organizations have been able to accomplish over these past 10 years thanks in part to the Co-op Innovation Awards," said Alison Powers, director of economic opportunities for Capital Impact Partners. "We've seen co-ops innovate, replicate their work, raise additional funding for their efforts, and become leaders in their field. I'm looking forward to seeing the impact that this year's awardees will be able to provide for their communities."

Learn more about this year's awardees

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