Hanover Co-op Earns Top Community Award

'Social responsibility' honor spotlights Co-op's prominent and behind-the-scenes impact

At the Hanover Co-op Food Stores and Auto Service Centers, corporate social responsibility takes many forms. Based on its long history of such community impact, the 86-year-old cooperative recently received the 2022 Cornerstone Award from New Hampshire Businesses for Social Responsibility (NHBSR).

NHBSR’s Cornerstone Award recognizes people and organizations that “exemplify the concepts of corporate social responsibility…and promote those concepts to the greater business community within the State of New Hampshire.” 

In presenting the award to the Hanover Co-op, NHBSR’s leadership highlighted Co-op initiatives such as its founding, and continued support for Willing Hands's food rescue efforts; establishment of its customer-driven Pennies for Change program; its innovative Co-op Car Connects service to low-income drivers; launching and subsidizing the purchase of reusable crates for local farmers; national commendations through the EPA’s GreenChill initiative for environmental stewardship; food waste diversion; and more.

The Hanover Co-op serves the Upper Valley region of New England. As an $80 million business, its Vermont facilities include a grocery store, production kitchen, and administrative offices in Hartford, along with an auto service center in Norwich. It operates three food stores and an auto service center in Hanover and Lebanon, New Hampshire.

Accepting the award, Hanover Co-op's Allan Reetz said, “The cooperative model is built on concern for community. The actions and principles of the Hanover Co-op remain as strong today as they were at its founding in 1936. The employees and our member-owners make our good work possible.”

 

Allan Reetz, Hanover Co-op’s Director of Public & Government Relations, receives NHBSR's 2022 Cornerstone Award on behalf of Hanover Co-op employees. Presenting the award were NHBSR’s Executive Director Michelle Veasey (L) and Marianne Bradley (R) of Normandeau Associates.


(Photo/John Benford Photography)

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About Hanover Co-op Food Stores

The Hanover Co-op Food Stores—also known as the Hanover Consumer Cooperative Society—is owned by more than 24,000 members. The Co-op seeks to build a well-nourished community cultivated through cooperation. From its founding in 1936 by 17 Dartmouth College professors and their spouses, the Hanover Co-op is now one of the oldest and largest of its kind in the United States. In recent years, this business has served more than 5,000 customers a day. For more than 85 years, this cooperative has stood by its founding commitment to buying locally produced food and goods. From locations in New Hampshire and Vermont, this consumer-owned business generates sales of $85 million annually from three grocery stores, a community market, and two auto service centers.

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