You may not be aware that the United Nations General Assembly declared 2012 the International Year of Cooperatives, but in Brattleboro that designation is being acknowledged with the introduction of a brand new building for its Food Cooperative, a state of the art, energy efficient facility that also features units of affordable housing above the grocery store.
The new building means more store space, an increase from 14,000 to 23,000 square feet from the old building. Green features that include polished concrete floors to do away with solvent based cleaners, triple-glazed windows to cut down on heat loss, and refrigeration units that will capture and recycle the heat they give off when cooling things like beer and frozen meats.
The co-op is owned by the people who work and shop there, and it’s a valued part of the downtown community. In recent years, the Brattleboro Food Co-op has suffered some serious setbacks, so this move into a larger, more energy-friendly building is a great source of pride for the people who use and sustain it.
And for General Manager Alex Gyori, it represents a triumph of progression for a community resource that’s been around, in one form or another, for decades.
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