This Month In Worker Ownership

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This past month, we went to NCBA CLUSA's inaugural Co-op IMPACT Conference and the Social Cooperative International School in Naples, Italy, among other events. We saw two employee ownership-centered bills signed in Rhode Island and New York, and we launched our annual census of worker cooperatives, which equips us with information that informs policy. Your participation is important!

Worker coops in the news

Blueprint for the Most Radical City on the Planet, Huffington Post
The New Co-op Helping Ex-Inmates Find Work—and Recover, YES! Magazine
Are Co-ops the Future of a Sustainable Restaurant Industry? East Bay Express
Maine solar business pursues conversion to worker co-op to sustain business, create more jobs and Solar energy provider converts to worker-owned cooperative, Rural Cooperatives

Pictured: Melissa Hoover along with Cornelius Blanding, Executive Director of the Federation of Southern Cooperatives.

Headlines

First things first: the bill passed by the Rhode Island General Assembly creating a statutory vehicle for the creation of worker owned cooperatives in Rhode Island was signed by Governor Raimondo on October 25 at Fuerza Laboral! On the very same day, Governor Cuomo signed New York State Senate Bill S6794 relating to employer-specific skill training grant programs for employee-owned enterprises!

A group of US Federation of Worker Cooperatives (USFWC) and Democracy At Work Institute (DAWI) staff attended NCBA CLUSA's Co-op IMPACT Conference in Alexandria, Virginia this month. We joined over 300 others to discuss the economic impact of cooperatives—in 10 coop sectors and 18 countries. Worker cooperatives were in the spotlight, from the impact and equity panel featuring Dr. Jessica Gordon Nembhard to the closing plenary featuring city officials supporting worker cooperative initiatives New York. Director of Special Projects, Anh-Thu Nguyen, spoke on a panel of cooperators across generations. Co-director of Cooperative Conversions, Joe Marraffino, presented on conversions to employee ownership. Executive Director, Melissa Hoover, spoke to the financial resources that are available to support cooperative development at another session. We congratulate NCBA CLUSA on a fantastic event.

It's that time of year again! The USFWC and DAWI invite you to participate in our annual census to study the economic and social benefits of worker cooperatives. This is an opportunity to contribute to major, ongoing research that will not only help shape the future for worker cooperatives in the US, it will also help us to show off the strong, meaningful, and rapid growth of our sector. Visit this page to participate!

Spotlight: Social Cooperatives in Naples

Esteban Kelly and Melissa Hoover, Executive Directors of USFWC and DAWI, respectively, along with Anh-Thu Nguyen, DAWI's Director of Special Projects, attended the Social Cooperatives International School in Naples, Italy this month. The school was hosted by the Italian cooperative association Confcooperative, which represents 19,000 cooperatives and social enterprises throughout Italy with membership in a multitude of sectors.

It was informative and enjoyable trip, affording us the opportunity to get to know social cooperatives, which were created in the 1970s in Italy as a multistakeholder approach to address the needs of socially vulnerable groups including children, elderly, disabled individuals, and returning citizens in the wake of an economic crisis. As part of this deep dive, they spent a full day at Fuori di Zucca, a social cooperative that engages returning citizens and members of other vulnerable groups through farming and artisan, slow food production, and which has established itself as a community act of resistance and resilience.

Pictured: Melissa Hoover, Esteban Kelly, and a member of Fuori di Zucca, an Italian cooperative.

The team out and about

In October, we not only traveled for NCBA Co-op IMPACT and the Social Cooperatives International School but also a worker cooperative gathering in Seattle and the American Sustainable Business Council conference.

Director of Research, Tim Palmer, joined worker cooperative members and others in Seattle, Oregon in October to help plan the future of the Western Worker Cooperative Conference. In addition to to discussing logistics for future conferences, people expressed interest in smaller, more frequent regional gatherings in Washington state to better coordinate worker cooperative activity in the Northwest.
US Federation of Worker Cooperatives team member, Mo Manklang, recently attended the American Sustainable Business Council's SustyBiz Conference, which convened triple bottom line businesses around policy initiatives and organized a series of meetings with representatives from both the House and Senate to discuss several pressing issues. Mo was present to help educate policymakers around worker cooperatives, and the opportunity they represent for businesses to preserve and grow jobs.

Upcoming events

Nov 3 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 .

Nov 29 Asset Protection for Immigrant Business Owners
11-1:00pm PST / 1-3:00pm CST / 2-4:00pm EST
This webinar for national service providers to immigrant entrepreneurs (coop developers, business advisors, social service providers) addresses concerns around asset protection, estate and succession planning. We will provide a general overview (in English) of issues and considerations relating to protection of personal and business assets for worker-owners and entrepreneurs. We will review steps to take to protect assets and cover mechanisms for estate planning such as power of attorney, trusts, and guardianship. The webinar is a partnership between the Democracy at Work Institute (DAWI), Educators for Fair Consideration (E4FC), and Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area (LCCR). Co-facilitators include Sushil Jacob, Senior Attorney at LLCR, and Anh-Thu Nguyen, DAWI's Director of Special Projects. Register here.

Dec 6 Asset Protection for California Immigrant Business Owners
11-1:00pm PST / 1-3:00pm CST / 2-4:00pm EST
This webinar for California service providers to immigrant entrepreneurs (coop developers, business advisors, social service providers) addresses similar but localized concerns as the November 29 webinar around asset protection, estate and succession planning. It is in partnership between the Democracy at Work Institute (DAWI), Educators for Fair Consideration (E4FC), and Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area (LCCR). Co-facilitators include Sushil Jacob, Senior Attorney at LLCR, and Tobias Damm-Luhr, Staff Attorney at LLCR. LLCR will be launching and discussing their manual, Asset Protection for California Immigrant Business Owners. Register here.

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.