This Month In Worker Ownership

Forward

This past month, we co-organized a Worker Cooperative Support Summit in New York City and partnered with cooperative and economic development organizations around the country to deliver trainings. Our work around conversions garnered attention, leading to an interview and an article, spotlighted below!

Looking to the future, we need your help to design the best program possible on participatory management practice in worker cooperatives! We ask you, managers and board members of worker coops, to share some of your priorities in this survey. The first 20 people to complete the survey will be receive 20% off the cost of their first course.

Worker coops in the news

H ome care coops to help fix America's shortage of home care workers, Forbes
Santa Ana Officials Endorse Worker-Owned Businesses and Declare Intent to Support Them, Voice of OC
San Jose Pizza Shop Deals Employees a Slice of the Action (video), KPIX/CBS

Pictured: Participants of the Worker Coop Support Summit in New York.

Headlines

In New York City, supporters of worker cooperatives—including developers, lawyers, lenders, social justice organizations, and cooperative members—came together for a Worker Cooperative Support Summit. Over the course of the day, participants compared thoughts about the impacts of worker cooperatives, shared challenges they are facing in their work, and identified existing and potential areas of collaboration.

To strengthen participatory management practice in worker cooperatives, we are launching a new training program this fall. To help us design the best training possible, DAWI and USFWC ask you, managers and board members of worker coops, to share some of your priorities for the training in this survey. It should take only 15 minutes to complete, and we need it by September 15. The first 20 people to complete the survey will be receive 20% off the cost of their first course.

We are participating, as a New Economy Coalition member, in the #NowWeOwn project. #NowWeOwn makes visible projects that put economic power in the hands of communities through democratic, broad-based ownership. We encourage you to share stories of your own about redefining ownership through worker-owned cooperatives on Twitter or Facebook using the hashtag #NowWeOwn.

Spotlight: Conversions

Did you know that 10,000 baby boomers retire in this country every day? Or that 70 percent of privately held businesses are expected to be sold or close in the next 5-20 years? This is huge—but business closure and consolidation can be averted!

"Converting companies to employee-owned enterprises may prove to be both a succession planning win and a business retention strategy – one that can deliver substantial economic benefits to outgoing owners, employees, and communities," write Executive Director Melissa Hoover and Conversions Program Co-director Shevanthi Daniel-Rabkin for the California Economic Development (CALED) Journal.

So, how do you know if a business is a good candidate for conversion to employee ownership? What sort of assistance do businesses need most when transitioning to employee ownership? The International Economic Development Council sat down with the Institute's Joe Marraffino and Dave Hammer of the The ICA Group to address these questions about conversions to employee ownership as a viable succession plan for retiring business owners.

The team out and about

In August, we partnered with cooperative and economic development organizations to pursue opportunities for cooperatives at a state and national level in the agriculture sector and through conversions.

Director of Startup Initiatives, Vanessa Bransburg, in partnership with the University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives and Latino Economic Development Center, conducted a four-day training in Spanish in Sebring, Florida for organizers of the Florida Farmworkers Association looking to develop a cooperative development program to support agricultural coops across the state.
Conversions program Co-directors Shevanthi Daniel-Rabkin and Joe Marraffino delivered a webinar to the California Association for Leadership in Economic Development on the rationale for worker cooperative conversions as an economic development practice. This followed an article Shevanthi and DAWI Executive Director Melissa Hoover contributed to CALED's spring journal.

Upcoming events

Sept 1 Worker Cooperative Startup Webinar
12-1:30pm PST / 2-3:30pm CST / 3-4:30pm EST
Our monthly webinar is for individuals and groups at the very early stages of forming their worker cooperative business. Register here.

Sept 19-21 Crafted Production 101
Crafted Production 101 will bring together Carolina Textile District manufacturing partners and others in Asheville, NC and surrounding areas to learn about opening or running a crafted production cut and sew factory, with an emphasis on the value chain model and worker-owned cooperatives. It will be co-led by our partners at Opportunity Threads. Registration for this workshop is still available.

Sept 21 Como Planificar y Hablar Con Medios de Comunicación (lenguaje: Español)
2-4pm PST / 4-6pm CST / 5-7pm EST
Este taller va ser conducido por Yadira Fragoso, graduada de Líderes Cooperativistas en Acción. Vamos a cubrir como se desarrolla un plan para representar a su cooperativa durante entrevistas con medios de comunicación. Algunos de los temas que vamos repasar incluye: como crear una hoja de prensa, como crear su mensaje de conversación, y como responder a preguntas difíciles mientras uno representa la misión y los valores de su cooperativa. Registrase con anticipación para este taller. Después de registrarse, recibirá un correo electrónico con información sobre como unirse al taller. Si tiene alguna pregunta, puede contactar con Vanessa Bransburg al vbransburg@institute.coop.

Support our work

All contributions make it possible for us to provide resources, research, and technical assistance in support of the growing worker cooperative sector. Please visit institute.coop to donate.