Become an Owner

Why become an Owner of the Medford Food Co-op?

Owners of the Medford Food Co-op bring an important benefit to the community.

The most important benefit for the Owner is the existence of the co-op itself. People invest in a co-op because they want to use its services.

In addition, owners receive benefit from being a part of the community, supporting the mission of the co-op as well as the community it serves.

A co-op’s purpose is to meet owners’ needs, and fulfilling those needs takes capital. Owners own and invest in their cooperative because they trust that doing so is in their best interest.

You can join the Medford Food Co-op by buying a share for $100. Any individual can buy up to 20 shares. Each person, no matter how many shares they own, gets one vote.

The MFC is a Cooperative Corporation with any profits going back to the owners and the business itself. Those profits help maintain operations and growth. Owners’ shares have the advantage of being a low-cost way to build capital, since co-op’s don’t typically pay interest on owner shares as they would on debt capital. Member investments are more dependable and less risky than relying on earnings as the primary source of capital.

The MFC Board of Directors is elected by the MFC owners At the end of each year the Board of Directors will vote on how to distribute any profits that have been made. Typically, co-op board’s will vote to give some money back to owners and reinvest the remainder in the business. Owners may receive a percentage of the profits based on how much money they spent at the co-op during the year.

Medford co-op owners may periodically receive coupons including deals such as $5 off purchases of $25 or more.

Becoming an owner grants you the satisfaction of participating in a community venture that’s run from the ground up. Cooperatives demonstrate the advantage of being community-based businesses, where a relatively small amount of investment from a large number of people can create a sizable base of funds from which to leverage larger amounts of capital. Shares are not considered taxable income for the co-op.

Cooperative membership is cooperative ownership. Our owners and directors, staff and management, should all understand that this economic model offers many advantages, including the ability to serve members, build equity, and share in the common wealth!