Green Top Grocery Co-Op Receives Funding

Green Top Grocery Cooperative, which is scheduled to open in June in Bloomington, Ill., received a $800,000 loan from National Cooperative Bank (NCB) to fund leasehold improvements, inventory, equipment and working capital.

The start-up national food co-op will be a full-service store committed to providing residents with a variety of local and healthy food options in the new 10,000-square-foot facility.

The $3.6 million project was a collaborative effort between NCB, Shared Capital Cooperative, Local Enterprise Assistance Fund and Green Top Grocery shareholders. The members of Green Top Grocery secured additional funding through grants, donations and member loans. The co-op currently has 1,500 shareholders and shares in the co-op will continue to be available for purchase.

“A lot of work goes into building a food co-op from the ground up", stated Michael Pennington, GM of Green Top Grocery. "The collaborative effort of everyone involved has been instrumental in our progress so far and we look forward to serving our local community very soon."