Help Shape the Future of the Co-op

At Marsh River Cooperative, we’re dedicated to enhancing your experience with us. Would you spare 5 minutes to share your thoughts about the co-op in an anonymous customer feedback survey?

We want to understand your satisfaction, preferences, and how we can improve. Your insights will play a crucial role in shaping the future of the co-op. 

Click here to take the survey. Alternatively, you can fill out a printed survey at the co-op’s register.

Thank you for being an essential part of the Marsh River Cooperative community. We look forward to hearing your thoughts and continuing to serve you with excellence!

MRC Annual Report 2023/Meeting Reminder

Hi Everyone,

We are pleased to announce that our Annual Report for Fiscal 2022-2023 is now available for your perusal. We were hoping to have it out sooner but as usual other projects have gotten in the way. Our Volunteer Board(And other volunteers) have been working hard to improve the offerings in our craft section (as well as a floor reset) and we wanted to make sure that everyone had a chance to see the new offerings tomorrow! A big thank you needs to go out to the individuals who worked on our Annual Report as well as a big thank you to the volunteers that worked to expand the craft selection!

Also, just a reminder that our Annual Meeting is tomorrow afternoon. The potluck starts at 4pm and the meeting starts at 5pm. For voting we will have ballots at the meeting and then please keep an eye out in your email if you weren’t able to make it. Paper copies will also be available after tomorrow at the register if you’d prefer to do it in person.

We hope to see everyone tomorrow afternoon!

MRC Annual Report 2023

Annual Meeting

The Annual Meeting is just around the corner, scheduled for November 19. At 4:00 p.m., we’ll host a potluck, and the annual meeting will start at 5:00 p.m. We eagerly anticipate your presence as we delve into the annual report, assess the past year’s progress, and discuss our future goals. Importantly, we’ll vote for two new board members, Meg Joy and Becca Lane.

The evening will commence with a potluck, offering members a chance to socialize before diving into the agenda. We encourage all members to attend, share their thoughts, and cast their votes for the incoming board members. Your involvement is vital in shaping the future of our cooperative. Let your voice be heard, and join us for an engaging and productive meeting.

Board Candidate Information:

Meg Joy 

Meg Joy has lived in Waldo County for 15 years and is a proud resident of Thorndike and an alumna of Unity College, where her passion for environmental issues and sustainability was kindled. Currently, she contributes her expertise as a branch manager at ReVision Energy, a company committed to advancing clean energy solutions in Maine. In her spare time, she creates jewelry and supports local musicians.  Meg’s dedication to fostering sustainable practices and supporting local agriculture and businesses has been the driving force behind her career and community involvement. Meg loves volunteering and among helping at the co-op since May, she also volunteers her time at The Summer Camp for Girls and Beaver Hill Plantation maple syrup farm.

Becca Lane

Becca Lane recently moved to Monroe and has been eager to get involved in the local community. She volunteers with Veggies For All and at the Belfast Curling Club where she also is a member. When she’s not curling, you can find her at the Belfast Clay Studio making pottery or at home where she has a small studio and works as a graphic designer. Becca is already part of the Marsh River Cooperative craft committee and looks forward to doing even more with the co-op!

View Board Expectations

Current Board Members

Later this week, an electronic ballot will be sent. You can also access a paper ballot in the co-op. 

We look forward to your active participation and seeing you there in a week as we work together to chart the course for the Marsh River Cooperative’s future!

Solar Project Update

To our Members/Customers and Community Supporters;

So a lot has happened in the last several weeks here at the Co-op. We were hoping to get his information out to everyone sooner but it’s been so crazy it’s been a struggle to get to a computer to type up the announcement(plus we needed to wait for the final interconnect). We are very pleased to announce that the Solar Array on the Pole Barn in back of the Co-op is completed and generating electricity. After many months of planning, discussions, evaluations and many many emails the project has finally come to fruition. In the last two years we have seen our energy costs nearly double (despite using the same amount of electricity) and we are hoping that in the long term it helps reduce those energy costs as well as help with our sustainability goals along the way.

We’d like to take this opportunity to thank all the individuals/groups who worked through the process and provided help and guidance along with way. Thank you to our volunteer board who sat through many hours of meetings and discussions trying to work on the best solution for the Co-op. Thank you to our ever gracious landlord who allowed us to move forward with the project on their property. Thank you to SolarLogix for working with us throughout the project and for making a massive final push the week of Common Ground Fair. Thank you to CEI Inc for providing the primary financing to move forward with the project. Thank you to the USDA and the REAP program that will help offset a significant portion of the project cost. And last, but certainly not least, we want to give a big shout out to all our members and customers who donated to our solar fund to help ease the burden of unexpected and increased costs that occurred with the project along the way (isn’t that always the way..). Your continued support and donations will help go toward lowering the long term cost of the project as we are still in the process of paying off some of the increases and have taken on long term debt to finance the project.

Now we move into the phase of evaluating the potential impact of the system (this likely will take several months) and once we have a clearer picture we’re hoping that we will realize some cost savings that we can put back into the Co-op to continue to provide for our membership and community! And finally a big thank you to everyone that continues to make the MRC a reality!

P.S. – If you are curious to see what the array is producing there is now a link on the website under the solar donation button so you can take a look.