Crunch Time

Dear Co-op members,
 
We sent you a message over the weekend indicating that the decision from the USDA on our loan application is imminent. Included with that message was a form letter that you could use to e-mail elected officials to urge them to support our project.
 
We’ve since found out that the White House’s e-mail system can’t incorporate a letter of that length, so we have included a shortened version with this e-newsletter.  We’ve also surmised that many of you might not open your e-mails on the weekend.
 
So, once more with feeling, we’d like to ask that those of you that haven’t contacted elected officials to enlist their support, to please do so now.
 
We don’t need to tell you about the jobs that this project will create and the good it will do by revitalizing the former Ashbourne Market and by extension the Elkins Park East business district. We think we have a very good chance here but you never know how politics is going to play out in Washington. We do know that now is the time to act.

Please, use the contact information below and the form letter below (or click HERE to download as a Word document) or write your own letter if you prefer ─ and get to work. Get writing and get your friends and neighbors to do the same and have them do it without any delay. 
 
If you have been telling yourself that you need to get involved to make this co-op come into being, now is the time to do so. There will probably never be a better one, at least in this stage of our effort.
 
─ The Board of Directors of the CreekSide Co-op

Dear (fill in elected official),
 
I am a member of the Our Community Cooperative of Cheltenham Township, Inc., a nonprofit entity that is commonly known as CreekSide Co-op.  CreekSide Co-op is an enterprise that would create a member-owned community grocery store in a long-vacant store front in Elkins Park, Pa. 
 
My family is one of more than 1,250 households that have joined CreekSide Co-op, representing approximately 3,700 individuals. We have contributed more than $185,000 in member equity in this difficult economy in the effort to see this project become a reality.
 
I’m writing to urge you to support our $3 million direct loan application that is under consideration by the United States Department of Agriculture.  We are told that our project will be approved or turned down by the end of August and we seek to enlist your immediate support to help gain approval of our project.
 
We’ve hired a management veteran of the Whole Foods Market as CEO and General Manager and have a 13-member board that is well qualified to shepherd this project. Conservative estimates are that CreekSide Co-op will create more than 50 new permanent jobs, not including the project’s construction employment. CreekSide Co-op is expected to generate annual sales of more than $5 million, and while it’s a non-profit, it is not tax exempt, and will therefore contribute to the tax base at the township, county and state levels.
 
The proposed site is adjacent to mass transit and we are devoted to the principles of community-supported, community-owned agriculture and commerce. If we open this store, we will be creating a vibrant marketplace that will help revitalize a struggling retail district.
 
To us, the path to a stable, equitable economy involves returning the flow of commerce to community based businesses that retain capital and employment where people live and house their families. We believe our project embodies exactly the kind of economic investment and entrepreneurial spirit needed during these difficult times.
 
We need your help. We would gratefully appreciate whatever your office could do to aid us in our quest, whether it be expressing your support to the USDA or vouching for us in the halls of Congress.
 
Sincerely,
 

 
 
 
  
 

CreekSide Co-op Board Contacts:
                                                                                         
Scott Laughlin 
CreekSide Co-op Board President
Laughscott@comcast.net
215-275-1685 cell 
 
Adam Silverman
CreekSide Co-op Counsel
asilverman@cozen.com
215-665-2161 office

President Barack Obama
Web contact form: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
Phone: 202-456-1111
 
First Lady Michelle Obama
Web contact form: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
Phone: 202-456-1111

U.S. Senator Bob Casey
Web contact form: http://casey.senate.gov/services/help/
Select "Agriculture" as the message topic
Phone: 866-802-2833

U.S. Representative Chaka Fattah's Office
Ilona.Grover@mail.house.gov
Phone: 202.225.4001
 
U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln
Chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry
Web contact form: http://lincoln.senate.gov/contact/email.cfm
Phone: 202-224-4843
 
Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell
Web contact form: http://www.governor.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/contact/2998
Phone: 717-787-2500
 
U.S. Representative Allyson Schwartz
NOTE: Only accepts submissions from constituents, based on address
Web contact form: http://schwartz.house.gov/issue_subscribe.shtml

Phone: 202-225-6111