Let’s all share a collective “How is it almost December???” before diving into some exciting end-of-the-year updates! Read on for not one, not two, but THREE important pieces of news for our valued investors.

 New Investment Platform Launching Q1 2025

As you know, our former investment platform Mainvest closed unexpectedly earlier this year. While this news came as a surprise to all of us, it also gave our co-op the opportunity to find an improved repayment platform with enhanced capabilities and more user-friendly features. 

We are working on a transition and hope to launch the new platform by January! Stay tuned for more information, and if you have any questions, be sure to attend our Year End Financial Update zoom meeting (more on that below!).

 2023 Audit & Tax Documents Coming Your Way

Our 2023 Audit is finally complete! You can view and/or download the audit here (the audit link will also be available via our website’s Owner Area). You will also be receiving a tax document recording your 2023 deferred returns that were awarded* in Q1 of 2024 - keep an eye out for this form in Q1 of 2025!

*Reminder: Since Commongrounds did not earn a cash profit in 2023, you did not receive a cash return. However, your return was added onto your initial investment in our records and in future years your returns will be based on your initial investment PLUS the amount of your 2023 return. This increase will be reflected on a tax form you receive for 2024 (in Q1 of 2025). 

 Financial Year End Update and Q&A Session on 12/20

Commongrounds’ Co-Executive Director Kate Redman will be hosting a virtual end-of-year financial update! Please join us on Zoom Friday, December 20th at Noon EST to hear updates and ask questions. Not able to tune in live? A recording will be available for your viewing convenience, and questions can be submitted in advance via our website’s contact form!

Zoom Meeting Info:

 Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81513472451

 Meeting ID: 815 1347 2451

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 Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kBFQfBDbZ

SENT: Mainvest Investor Portfolio History & Agreements

Are you a 2021 or 2023 investor? Please check your email! Mainvest has emailed investors a file with a summary of your investments, the signed agreements for each, and your transaction history. Note that for large portfolios (over 10 businesses) you may receive multiple copies of this email with separate attachments. If you would like to save any other information (such as comments on discussion boards or past offering page information), please do so before the Mainvest site is deprecated on June 14th. All data will be deleted upon the deprecation of the site.

Don't see an email?

Please check your spam and promotions folders first, then reach out to Mainvest support by EOD TODAY (June 14th). If you miss the window for direct support from Mainvest or encounter any issues, please reach out to us at hello@commongrounds.coop. We are happy to share a copy of your investment information that we have on file.

PLEASE NOTE:

1. If you invested in 2019 through Local Stake, you WILL NOT receive portfolio info from Mainvest. Your investment is on file with Commongrounds! Mainvest would have served as the distributor for your returns but does not hold your original investment documents.

2. Becoming an owner in Commongrounds Cooperative is a condition of your investment! As a cooperative, we must share our profits with our owners, so in order to receive returns all investors must become owners by purchasing a one-time $50 equity share. Joining also gives you access to our owner-only email updates! Haven't joined yet? Become an owner here: https://www.commongrounds.coop/join You may also choose to pay annual dues for additional rights and benefits, but dues are NOT required for your investment returns.

Hello Investors,

We are closely monitoring the situation at Mainvest to keep our investors as updated and informed as possible. With that in mind, we want to assure you that the most recent message from Mainvest regarding a disruption with some of its service providers does NOT affect your Commongrounds investment. All investment funds have already been received by Commongrounds, and Mainvest was not holding any pending repayments on our behalf. Please rest easy knowing that Mainvest's closure has no impact on our obligation and commitment to repay our investors' funds. You can learn more information and view FAQs from Mainvest's Investor Support Hub, including the following summary of next steps and important dates for Mainvest investors excerpted below. Thank you for your continue support!

The Commongrounds Team

***Excerpt below from Mainvest's Investor Support Hub***

What actions do investors need to take right now?

• Ensure that all profile information is correct: email, address, and primary bank account. Remove inactive bank accounts to ensure that any final payments are sent to the correct account. If any funds are remaining in your custodial wallet by June 12th, they’ll be sent to the address on file. It is essential that this is accurate.

• Withdraw custodial funds in the meantime.

Important Dates

June 12th, 2024: All investor data and transaction history emailed to your email on file.

June 14th, 2024: Mainvest site deprecated. Please ensure that all history is downloaded by this date.

June 14th, 2024: Final day of operations. After this date, the issuer of your revenue sharing agreement will be solely responsible for processing the repayments under your revenue sharing agreement with them.

Hello Investors,

You have likely received an important email from Mainvest informing you of their impending closure on June 14th. We apologize for this surprising news! Unfortunately Mainvest did not notify client organizations before notifying investors, so we were unable to message this to Commongrounds investors first-hand.

As a reminder, Mainvest is a third party platform that Commongrounds used for investment crowdfunding, as required by federal regulation. With Mainvest closing, we will have to come up with an alternative system for disbursing returns to investors. The earliest we would pay cash returns is Q1 2025, so we have a few months to figure it out. We will work diligently to make a plan and communicate it to folks by this fall. 

The bottom line: This does not affect your investment in Commongrounds, it only affects the platform that will be used to distribute your payments in the future.  

Please follow Mainvest instructions for closing your account and receiving records of your transactions through their platform. You can also check our Investor page for FAQs and additional information. If you have questions or wish to confirm your investor information, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us by emailing hello@commongrounds.coop.

Thank you so much for your support - we appreciate your investment in Commongrounds and will keep you updated as we navigate this technology transition!

The Commongrounds Team

In order to receive the cash return, all 2019 investors must set up an account on Mainvest (because the 2019 platform, LocalStake, no longer exists). However, even though Mainvest will be able to transfer funds into your Mainvest account, it does not have the ability to show your 2019 investment on its page. We know that is not ideal and a little confusing! Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you’d like us to check that your Mainvest account is good to go.

MAINVEST CLOSURE NOTE: If you invested in 2019 through Local Stake, you WILL NOT receive an email with portfolio info from Mainvest. Your investment is on file with Commongrounds! Mainvest would have served as the distributor for your returns but does not hold your original investment documents.

Yes! All invested funds have been received by Commongrounds. Your investment helped create the beautiful building our community enjoys every day, and we're so grateful for your support!

No, any funds you invested in Commongrounds have been received by the cooperative, and no pending returns were being held by Mainvest. Had they continued operations, Mainvest would have facilitated future cash returns, so Commongrounds will need a different system to send payments to our 500+ investors. The earliest we would pay cash returns is Q1 2025, and we will update investors about our chosen distribution system in Fall 2024.

Since Commongrounds' investment was already closed, there should not be any issues to mediate concerning your investment in the cooperative. Commongrounds will make sure our business account is offboarded appropriately, and investors should follow Mainvest's instructions to check their account info for accuracy, etc.