MANITOWOC – Plans to create a community-owned food cooperative in the city’s downtown are off the table – for now.

The Clipper City Co-op board and members voted earlier this year to dissolve the organization and give the membership money they’d collected to charity.

“There were just too many obstacles at this time to make it work,” said Amber Daugs, CEO and Founder of Grow It Forward Inc., who sat on the original steering committee for the co-op.

Leaders were looking for space to rent in Manitowoc’s downtown, with hopes of making fresh fruits and vegetables, and locally-sourced meats, cheese and dairy foods readily available to city residents, as well as grab-and-go meals and bakery goods.

They had plans to lease space at 702 York St. that fell through in 2020, and then the co-op decided to sell virtually as a result of the coronavirus pandemic

Board President Scott Retzak said organizers at the time wanted to take a step back to strengthen the board and develop a new business plan. The board needs members with banking, management, finance and project-management expertise, he said.

Leaders estimated they’d need a $1 million capital campaign to launch the project, and now is not the time.

“First there was the pandemic that slowed things down,” Daugs said. “Then with inflation, and the cost of food impacting people’s finances, and the possibility of a recession, it just didn’t seem feasible at this time.”

The cooperative would have been an ownership-run for-profit shop. When a person would purchase a share in Clipper City Co-op for $200, they became an owner and had equity in the business. Unlike a business owned by an individual, family or a corporation, profits from a cooperative are used to help the store better serve the community's needs or are returned to the owners.

Daugs said there’s still support for the idea, and that another push for a co-op could come in few years.

In the meantime, shoppers can find locally grown and -produced foods at plenty of other places, she said.

The city has both a summer and winter farmers market, and many local farmers have their own stores or stands to sell what they grow. Local grocery stores have sections for organic fruits, veggies and other products.

There are several community supported agriculture networks in Manitowoc County, in which farmers deliver farm products on a regular bases to those who buy shares.

There’s also Grow It Forward, a nonprofit with a community garden, a food pantry and programming for learning to cook healthy meals with local foods.

“The co-op had the intention of getting local food to the people,” Daugs said. “I think that’s already happening. The food community is very robust throughout the county.”

Contact reporter Patti Zarling at 920-606-2586 or send an email to pzarling@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @PGPattiZarling.

This article originally appeared on Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter: Manitowoc's Clipper City Co-op shelved in face of 'too many obstacles'