2011 Awardees Announced
The River Valley Market Board of Directors presented the 2011 Austin Miller Co-op Hero Awards at our 3rd Annual Strawberry Ice Cream Social on Wednesday, June 22nd.
The Austin Miller Co-op Hero Awards were created by River Valley Market in honor of long-time co-op member-owner Austin Miller, to recognize:
1) an individual,
2) a non-profit organization and
3) a business in the Pioneer Valley
that strive to support and strengthen cooperative values and the cooperative principal of Support for Community.
Cooperatives are based on the values of working together to create self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity, and solidarity. In the tradition of their founders, cooperative member-owners believe in the ethical values of honesty, openness, social responsibility, and caring for others.
The following award winners were chosen by the Board of Directors from a number of excellent nominations submitted by co-op members over the past few months:
2011 Austin Miller Co-op Hero Award
Individual Category
Elizabeth (Apple) Ahearn
Apple Ahearn has been a stalwart champion and effective leader in the cooperative movement since the 1970s. As a lifelong advocate for local farm and food sustainability, Apple has managed several food co-ops, and has provided business, marketing, and strategic advice to many other food cooperatives over her long career. Working with the Massachusetts Farm Viability Enhancement Program and related programs as a principal in the non-profit consulting group Field to Table, Apple has improved the viability of dozens of area farms and connected them with local marketing outlets. In addition, she works tirelessly on a variety of community sustainability projects.
2011 Austin Miller Co-op Hero Award Non-profit Category
Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture (CISA)
CISA has been working since 1993 to strengthen the connections between farms and the community by creating and running programs that link farmers, community members, and markets. CISA’s impressive record of creative, effective efforts on a variety of levels has greatly strengthened farming in our region and serves as an exciting inspiration nationwide.
2011 Austin Miller Co-op Hero Award
Business Category
Pedal People
Pedal People is in business not just to make a living, but to be a living model of a different way to do things in a car- and profit-centric culture. Pedal People is a worker-owned cooperative. Its member-employees are out there every day, in all weather, letting the community know in a quiet way that not only is it possible to move substantial loads by bike, but also that normal people can do it, make a living at it, and help save the planet by doing so.
About Austin Miller
Austin was awarded the first annual Co-op Hero Award during our cooperative’s celebration of the first birthday of our store on April 30th, 2009, for extraordinary support from a co-op member-owner. Austin tirelessly and passionately championed the dreams of our membership for a locally grown food co-op in Northampton.
Austin was a founding co-op member-owner whose career was devoted to serving people in Western Massachusetts by supporting community development projects that provided low income housing, shelter for victims of domestic violence, and food for the hungry. Austin specialized in securing financing for projects that directly benefited people in need and strengthened our communities. He was the financial consultant with MBL Housing and Development in Springfield, MA who helped secure the financing agreements between River Valley Market and the banks that provided the mortgage for our co-op start-up project in Northampton.
Our community lost a good friend when Austin passed away in October of 2009. In honor of his efforts on behalf of all of us, River Valley Market’s Board of Directors made a $1,500 donation to The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts Tornado Response Effort in the name of Austin Miller and this year’s three Austin Miller Co-op Hero Award winners. This year’s donation will support victims of the recent tornado in the Springfield area.
Thanks to everyone who submitted nominations!
Past winners:
2010 Individual: David Gowler
2010 Non-profit: Cooperative Fund of New England
2010 Business: Valley Alliance of Worker Cooperatives
2009 Individual: Austin Miller
2009 Non-profit: Green Fields Market
2009 Business: Bart’s Homemade Ice Cream
