People's Food Co-op or just the People's Co-op is a food cooperative located in Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1970 by the members of a food-buying club, the co-op is owned by over 3000 member owners and is a member of the National Cooperative Grocers Association and the United States Federation of Worker Cooperatives. Governance and management Board of Directors The Board of Directors at People's consists of 5-9 members elected by the membership of the co-op. The Board uses a modified version of consensus decision-making to reach its decisions. In 2006, the Board adopted Policy Governance as its governance model. Collective management People's is managed by a non-hierarchical collective. As of 2007, there are 27 co-managers. Collective meetings are held once a month where co-managers make decisions regarding the co-op's operations. Like the Board, the collective uses a modified version of consensus decision-making. 26 out of the 27 co-managers have to agree on given proposals. The collective is divided into semi-autonomous “teams” which are responsible for reporting and heading up their various departments. The collective is accountable to the membership via the Board. Expansion In 2002, People's embarked upon an expansion project to increase its retail space. People's secured loans from its membership and Shorebank Pacific to finance the $900,000 expansion project. The expansion doubled the store's retail space and included an expanded Community Room as well as an elevator for wheelchair access. The co-op's efforts won them a BEST (Businesses for an Environmentally Sustainable Tomorrow) award from the City of Portland’s Office of Sustainable Development in 2003 for energy efficiency. Building features The building which People's occupies incorporates a number of environmentally friendly technologies. All of the wood used for the expansion was either salvaged or FSC certified. The building's natural ventilation was improved by use of a solar chimney. Green roofs People's added two green roofs to its building during its expansion. Drought-tolerant plant species were chosen for the green roofs. Due to the stormwater management benefits, People's received a $2,500 grant from the Community Watershed Stewardship Program. Cob Cob, a mixture of earth, sand and straw, was used as infill for two walls of the building as well as for benches inside and outside of the store. People's was the first commercially zoned building in North America to build with cob wall infill. Geothermal The co-op is heated and cooled by use of a geothermal exchange heat