The agro-livestock cooperative is the host, 3 years after receiving this same award for its integration process. In this edition, the cooperatives Catroventos Editora, Cenlitrosmetrocadrado and Campo Capela have been awarded. The event was attended by the Regional Minister of Employment and Equality, María Jesús Lorenzana, who highlighted cooperativism as a pillar for the economic and social development of Galicia.
The headquarters of the cooperative AIRA, in Taboada (Lugo), hosted the main event of the Galician Cooperativism Day, with the presentation of the awards organized by the Department of Employment and Equality, which this year has the slogan; Rebuilding, better together.
The celebration takes place 3 years after the agro-livestock organization received the same award for the integration process it had just carried out. “Three years ago we were collecting the award, and we feel deeply proud to be able to host such a special celebration today, both for what it means to leave behind a difficult year of pandemic and for what it means in itself to celebrate the values of cooperativism”, said Daniel Ferreiro Otero, manager of the AI cooperative.said Daniel Ferreiro Otero, manager of the AIRA cooperative during the ceremony.
Today we are a consolidated cooperative with more than 2,500 members, more than 250 employees, 125 million euros of turnover. We grow by staying close to our members, their needs, trying to meet their demands and commercialize their products.
“We hope that the experience of this year’s awardees will be as positive as it was for AIRA. At that time, AIRA was just taking the first steps of integration. Today we are a consolidated cooperative with more than 2,500 members, more than 250 employees, 125 million euros of turnover. We grow by staying close to our members, to their needs, trying to meet their demands and market their products”, explains Ferreiro.explains Ferreiro. In these 3 years, the cooperative has grown in turnover in all areas of activity and cumulatively by more than 25%.
The event was attended by the Minister of Employment and Equality, María Jesús Lorenzana, who claimed the Social Economy as a “pillar on which to support and promote the economic and social development of Galicians”. “pillar on which to sustain and promote the economic and social development of Galician men and women”.. In this line, she underlined that the entities circumscribed to this model prove to be “a solid bet for employment and social development”. “a solid commitment to employment and they also do so by championing purposes of general and collective interest, which guarantee a better redistribution of resources and promote territorial cohesion”.
Cooperativism brings values such as self-help, solidarity and responsibility that not only benefit those who work in the cooperative but also the entire environment.
Lorenzana highlighted values such as self-help, solidarity, social responsibility and community feeling, which reduce inequalities, create common prosperity and respond to the ravages being caused by Covid-19. “Cooperativism brings values such as self-help, solidarity and responsibility that not only benefit those who work in the cooperative but also the whole environment”.said the Minister of Employment and Equality.
The award winners
At the event, the cooperatives Catroventos Editora, from Vigo, was awarded the prize for cooperative values; the Cenlitrosmetrocadrado studio, from Ames (A Coruña), received the prize for the best young cooperative project and Productores de Campo Capela, from A Capela (A Coruña), received the prize for the cooperative trajectory.
The prizes were also awarded to the Cooperative Business Projects of the Cooperativism in Education Contest in the modality of Vocational Training and special education centers, whose winners were, in the case of the first prize, the public high school Manuel Antonio, from Vigo, and, in the case of the second prize, the Mendiño Cooperative Society, also from the city of Vigo.
The event was hosted by ourensana journalist Patricia Santana, who since 2018 is co-host of the program Luar on Televisión de Galicia, and was broadcast live via the internet. The event also featured musical performances by Davide Salvado, accompanied by Fransy González and Cibrán and the humor of actress Laura Villaverde.
The celebration was carried out with the appropriate sanitary measures and with a controlled and limited capacity due to Covid-19. Precisely the outbreak of the pandemic delayed the celebration of this event in the cooperative, which was planned to be held in 2020, an edition that finally took place telematically.
