Latest news with #cooperative
New York Times
6 hours ago
- Business
- New York Times
Don't Trust Your Co-op Board? Here's How to Take Over.
Q: I live in a co-op building in central Queens where the board of directors is secretive and, we suspect, corrupt. Shareholders are not invited to monthly meetings, only to the annual meeting, when elections are held. We are not asked if we want to run for the board. The board has refused to share minutes of its monthly meetings, telling us to travel to the managing agent's office in Nassau County to read them! We are trying to get five other shareholders to run, but the managing agent won't tell us the date of the next annual meeting. How can we force the board to have an election? What do we do if it refuses to turn over control to new board members? A: The board's behavior does indeed seem suspicious, but it may not be illegal, depending on the rules set out in your co-op's bylaws. Most co-op boards are not required to open their meetings, with the exception of the annual meeting, to shareholders. Telling you to travel to Nassau County to read the minutes 'is a bit antiquated but permissible,' said William J. Geller, who practices real estate law at Braverman Greenspun. Still, a board's refusal to communicate, hold elections, or provide access to records could be an indication that it is not acting in the best interests of shareholders, said Debra J. Guzov, who practices real estate law in Manhattan. Your best course of action is to educate yourself on the building's rules and organize your neighbors to elect new leadership. Read the bylaws, proprietary lease and house rules to make sure the board is acting legally and to find notice provisions for the annual meeting. If these documents are silent or incomplete, refer to section 602 of the New York Business Corporation Law, which has requirements for the timing and conduct of meetings. From there, prepare for the annual meeting. The directors might be elected annually, or there might be staggered elections, meaning a fraction of the board is up every year, Mr. Geller said. If the board fails to hold an annual meeting and election, shareholders with at least 10 percent of the shares have a right to call a special meeting to elect directors. Determine a slate of candidates and build support for a change in leadership. If new board members are elected and the incumbents do not transfer power, shareholders can hire a lawyer to seek either emergency injunctive relief or an Article 78 proceeding under Civil Practice Law and Rules. Be aware that Article 78 proceedings have a four-month statute of limitations from when a request is denied. For weekly email updates on residential real estate news, sign up here.
RNZ News
3 days ago
- Business
- RNZ News
Fonterra boss blames soaring butter prices on global demand
Fonterra says the international market is pushing up butter prices the company has to reflect that in its returns to its farmer owners. Photo: Margaret Jaszowska for Unsplash The head of Fonterra says he understands consumers' frustration about the price of butter, but the co-op has to deliver for farmers. In its third-quarter update, Fonterra's profit for the nine months ended April rose 11 percent to $1.08 billion (or $1.16b excluding one-offs), driven by strong demand. But the same demand has meant soaring prices for household staples like butter . Recent Stats NZ data showed food prices rising at their fastest rate in more than a year, with butter prices up 65 percent. Fonterra chief executive Miles Hurrell said prices were driven by global demand. "We're a collection of 8500 small farmers and our job is to deliver for each of them," Hurrell said. "The international market is pushing these prices very high at the moment and our job is to reflect that in the returns that we give back to our farmer owners." Hurrell said he understood consumers' frustrations. "We hear that, we understand the situation that consumers here in New Zealand - and not just in New Zealand [but] globally are experiencing specifically around butter, but also starting to see that in other areas as well," he said. "But ultimately, our job is to understand what the international market is doing and put our prices and products out there accordingly." Fonterra's latest update indicated farmers could be in line for another bumper season, with the milk price forecast for the 2025/26 season at $10 per kilogram of milk solids, the same level as the current season. However, Fonterra warned of global uncertainty, and kept the forecast range wide at $8 to $11 per kg.
Geek Culture
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Culture
Singapore Indie Co-Op Game ‘SEDAP! A Culinary Adventure' Plates Steam Launch With Soundtrack Bundle
After years of cooking in the studio, Singapore-based developer kopiforge has officially launched SEDAP! A Culinary Adventure on Steam. The co-op culinary action title, which takes its name after the Malay word – one of the city-state's main languages – for 'delicious', comes after a slight delay from its initial release of March 2025, with an accompanying trailer showcasing new gameplay footage and its adorable, vibrant art style. While best enjoyed as a multiplayer experience, the Asian-inspired fantasy world can also be explored solo, featuring a blend of Overcooked, PlateUp!, and as shared in an exclusive interview, Monster Hunter influences. The result is a combat-flavoured twist to the traditional formula that combines 'the chaos of a collaborative kitchen and the wonders of adventuring into an unexplored world', alongside its cultural roots. Advertisement ▼ 'Embark on an exciting culinary journey, whip up delectable delicacies, and serve your way through a fantastical reimagination of Southeast Asia!' reads the rest of its official description. SEDAP! will take players through 42 levels across three unique biomes, with over 50 Southeast Asian dishes to prepare and cook, from pineapple fried rice and mango sticky rice to sambal kangkong. Regional nods, such as mythology references and native plant or animal species, can also be expected in all three available modes: single-player, local multiplayer, and online multiplayer. In celebration of the game's launch, a soundtrack collection was additionally unveiled, comprising 15 pieces composed with Southeast Asian instruments. It retails for US$4.99 (SGD price has yet to be confirmed) and will be available on Steam soon. Apart from languages spoken in the larger Asia region, including English, Chinese (both Simplified and Traditional), Japanese, Korean, Bahasa Melayu (Malay) and Indonesian, Tagalog, and Vietnamese, SEDAP! features support for Spanish, German, French, Turkish, Brazilian Portuguese, Romanian, and Hungarian as well, coming up to 16 available options. The cooking-combat adventure will come to consoles sometime in the near future, though a release window was not specified.
Fast Company
21-05-2025
- Business
- Fast Company
This mindset can get agriculture off the commodity rollercoaster
Today's U.S. farmers and agricultural businesses are navigating a complex landscape, with unique near-term and long-term challenges that include intensified global competition, record trade deficits, rising costs, and more frequent and extreme weather events. These challenges have created economic instability across the entire agriculture sector with U.S. row crop farmer net income remaining persistently low for the third straight year. Estimates from the University of Illinois show that corn and soybean farmers could face a net loss of between $50 and $70 per acre this growing season. On top of this, global acreage has leveled off at 2.3 billion acres and the average yield for corn and soybeans has also slowed. This uncertainty affects not only those who grow our food but also reverberates throughout the entire food system, threatening the stability we all depend on. It's clear that our sector must get off unpredictable commodity rollercoaster and create a more predictable future for farm families, agricultural businesses, consumers, and communities. Drawing on Land O'Lakes, Inc.'s 104 years of experience as a cooperative, we have learned that collaboration is crucial for bringing stability and predictability to the food and agriculture sectors. The ag community represents only around 1% of the population but, by working together, we can capture efficiencies and reinvest in innovation, expand market opportunities, and support the communities and local businesses that are essential to our nation's food supply. Become a student of the game At Land O'Lakes we have a saying that 'Our success starts with our member-owners' success.' What this means is that our decisions and investments must be made with our cooperative owners in mind. This mantra has never been more important than today when external factors are pressuring our bottom lines and muddying the decision-making process. In agriculture, we're seeing pressure on the supply side as a result of global trade dynamics, a reduction in demand due to dips in commodity prices, and a rising cost to serve. All of which results in a tightening of margins up and down the food value chain. To be clear, these challenges are hardly unique to our sector, and I see the remedy as equally universal. Business leaders must double down on being students of the game, keeping a pulse on market dynamics and geo-political developments to stay on offense. And it's not enough to simply insulate your own business, we must think more collaboratively to identify solutions that serve partners up and down our value chains. Inject predictability into our food system To address the pressures facing American farmers, we must move beyond traditional methods and invest in modern technologies and data-driven solutions that provide detailed plans down to the acre and animal, help minimize risk to inject predictability into farm operations. By creating standardized, reliable, and secure datasets, the industry can provide insights that help farmers respond to environmental and market challenges, manage supply chains, and track production volumes with unprecedented precision. As I look across this sector, I'm especially inspired by how Keystone Cooperative is working to drive predictability. This Indianapolis-based cooperative is using precise, field-level data to help growers respond to seasonal challenges and maximize their ROI by applying the right crop protection products at the right time and in a precise location. For Land O'Lakes, data is the cornerstone of our innovation strategy. Through the WinField United Innovation Center, a leading agricultural applied research facility, we collect and analyze roughly six million data points annually to help farmers increase production, improve efficiency and optimize resource use. Those insights are then being delivered in a manner that reduces the risk farmers face each day. This includes low-interest financing, prescription programs with a performance warranty, and an AI assistant that provides real-time solutions to problems farmers encounter throughout the growing season. The power of the cooperative mindset In an era where traditional business models often prioritize short-term profits over long-term resilience, the cooperative model offers a compelling alternative. We like to say our capital is patient, meaning we can take a longer-term point of view—considering future generations as much as quarterly performance. With a reach that touches 50% of the U.S. harvested acres, over 100 million animals daily, and 13 billion pounds of milk per year, the Land O'Lakes cooperative system also demonstrates the strength of collaboration and shared purpose. By working together with established business leaders that have earned local trust and demonstrated the ability to drive change, we can strengthen the economic prosperity of our shared businesses and communities. The cooperative structure also fosters unique partnerships between stakeholders within and outside the agriculture sector. There's a deeper level of commitment to shared success that shows up in business initiatives and community building alike. For instance, Land O'Lakes is collaborating with CentraCare to help establish the University of Minnesota CentraCare Regional Campus where medical students receive education, training, and career development opportunities in rural communities where local medical services are desperately needed. Going forward As we look ahead, I want to challenge other organizations to adopt this collaborative approach. Think externally and selflessly. Think long term. Think evolution. Even if you're operating outside of the cooperative framework, this mindset can help solve the challenges we all face, enhance economic performance and uplift the communities we serve.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Shoofly workers walk out, bid to make it worker-owned
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Justin Hillsmith has been prepping breads and batters at the vegan bakery Shoofly in Southeast Portland. But now, after he and a dozen co-workers say the new owner missed two paychecks, they want to turn it into a worker-owned co-op. It's silent inside this Portland favorite along Southeast Division and 11th. A letter taped to the door explains the employees walked out of Shoofly last Friday over the missed paychecks. 'It was kind of a hard decision to walk off the job and to just, kind of, give up the prospect of future paychecks,' Hillsmith told KOIN 6 News. Justin Hillsmith wants to turn the Shoofly Vegan Bakery in SE Portland into a worker-owned business, May 6, 2025 (KOIN) But the idea of a co-op is appealing. 'Beer has staying power': Oregon beer generated nearly $9B in economic output last year 'It's not just us that loves Shoofly enough to fight for it,' he said. 'It's everyone we talk to in Portland and it just means a huge amount to them and to us.' But they need to buy it from the current owner, who took over just a few months ago. But, since the employees are currently short on cash, they've launched a GoFundMe along with hosting bake sales in an effort to garner community backing. And if they can't buy the business, they plan to start a new one. Hillsmith said this is about more than baked goods. It's about friendship, family, a safe space for all. They're not just fighting for a job, he said. They're fighting for each other. The Shoofly Vegan Bakery is closed at SE Division and 11th, May 6, 2025 (KOIN) Justin Hillsmith (right) and his co-workers want to turn the Shoofly Vegan Bakery in SE Portland into a worker-owned business, May 6, 2025 (KOIN) Justin Hillsmith and his co-workers want to turn the Shoofly Vegan Bakery in SE Portland into a worker-owned business, May 6, 2025 (KOIN) Justin Hillsmith wants to turn the Shoofly Vegan Bakery in SE Portland into a worker-owned business, May 6, 2025 (KOIN) Taste treats at Shoofly Vegan Bakery in Southeast Portland, April 4, 2025 (KOIN) 'This is just such an incredible space for, like, queer and LGBTQ people that, like, it feels safe and comfortable here,' he said. 'I love coming to work everyday and talking with my coworkers.' KOIN 6 News contacted the Shoofly's owner but have not heard back at this time. Employees are expected to meet with him on Wednesday to talk through their options. 'My hope,' Hillsmith said,' is that we get to keep baking together.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to
