WAGES (Women’s Action to Gain Economic Security) incubates and supports green cooperatives. Our mission is to build worker-owned green businesses that create healthy, dignified jobs for low-income women. We launch cooperatives where women develop personal and professional skills, become leaders, and gain economic security.

WAGES has established five sustainable housecleaning cooperative businesses in the Bay Area that double or triple low-income Latina workers’ earnings while protecting the environment, and has provided technical assistance and coaching to numerous organizations across the country undertaking cooperative development. In 2013, WAGES will expand its model by establishing a sixth cooperative in a new industry, bringing the benefits of our triple bottom line social enterprise expertise to Latina women in a new market segment. As we begin the process of expansion, WAGES offers candidates an exciting opportunity to bring their talents, leadership and creativity to a unique effort advancing social justice, green jobs and women’s empowerment.

• Articles and videos about WAGES cooperatives

Co-op Law is a collaborative legal resource library created by the Sustainable Economies Law Center (SELC) and the Green-Collar Communities Clinic (GC3).  The Wiki was created to provide a forum for sharing, organizing, and making sense of information related to the legalities of cooperatives .

• General Info

• Types of Cooperatives

• Choice of Entity

• Governance

• Co-op Bylaws

• Patronage, Accounting, and Tax

• Financing

• Employment Law

• Cooperative Incubation

• Co-ops and Green Jobs

• Resources & Support Organizations

• Co-ops in the U.S.

• Co-ops Internationally

"The Center for Family Life is pleased to announce that proposals for the 2013 New York City Cooperative Development Project are now being accepted. The submission deadline is February 25, 2013. Through the 2013 New York City Cooperative Development Project, the Center of Family Life will provide one year of technical assistance, training, and consultation to six community-based organizations in New York City interested in developing cooperative businesses in their communities. Applicants should have a history of exploring workforce development or entrepreneurship training and must be able to demonstrate a commitment to the model of worker cooperative development and its principles."

"What does it mean to be an owner? In We the Owners: Employees Expanding the American Dream, employee owners from New Belgium Brewing, Namasté Solar and DPR Construction answer this important question. Successfully thriving in the global economy of the 21st century and beyond will require new business models and strategies to enable the American Dream of opportunity and economic prosperity. One model that is an alternative is the employee-ownership model (e.g. ESOP, stock/stock options, cooperatives). We the Owners captures stories from the founders and employees from New Belgium Brewing, Namasté Solar, and DPR Construction, sharing the worker's perspectives on shared ownership structures, highly empowering corporate cultures, linked reward and risk incentives, and human-capital innovation models. The film follows as decisions are made on founding the company, expansion, succession, recruitment, and layoffs."

Portland, Maine's Local Sprouts Cooperative (previously) is organizing a menu of events for Worker Co-op Week in celebration of Co-op Month and the 2012 International Year of Cooperatives. 

Shift Change

A new documentary of true stories of dignified jobs in democratic workplaces

Monday, October 22, 7:30pm

Local Sprouts Cafe, 649 Congress St. Portland, Maine

Special Screening with filmmakers Mark Dworkin and Melissa Young

At a time when many are disillusioned with big banks and big business, and growing inequity in our country, employee ownership offers a real solution for workers and communities. Shift Change is a new documentary that highlights worker-owned enterprises in North America and in Mondragon, Spain.  The world premier of the film is Oakland, CA on October 18th. 

For more info about the film: www.shiftchange.org

Suggested donation of $5-10

Creating Worker Cooperatives in our Community

An afternoon workshop for people interested in starting worker co-ops and for people that want to support worker co-ops

Thursday, October 25

1-7pm

Local Sprouts Cafe, 649 Congress St. Portland, Maine

Worker co-ops around the world are creating jobs, supporting workplace democracy, and promoting a fair economic system.  Local Sprouts Cooperative is excited to share our model, about other worker co-ops and how to start worker co-ops with people in our community.  This afternoon workshop will spark ideas and collaborations to create new cooperatives in Portland.

This workshop is for:

•     People who want to start a worker cooperative
•     Existing businesses that many want to convert to a worker cooperative
•     Economic development professionals
•     Small business consultants
•     Credit unions and local banks
•     Foundations & philanthropists
•     Attorneys
•     Students & teachers
•     Accountants & bookkeepers
•     City officials
•     People interested in a democratic economy

Draft Agenda (more details will be shared before the workshop):

1pm Lunch and Panel Discussion: Worker Co-ops in the Year of the Co-op

2:30pm: Workshops:

    Starting Worker Co-op: visions to creation

    Supporting Worker Co-ops: for economic development and business support people

4pm: Financing Worker Co-ops

    Legal Support for Worker Co-ops

    Democracy in Action: culture, process, and decision making in cooperatives

5:30pm: Creating Worker Co-ops in our Community:  community discussion sharing ideas and support

People can either stay for the dinner or leave after 6:30pm when the discussion ends

Afternoon Conference & Lunch: Suggestion Donation $15-30

Co-Sponsored by Local Sprouts Cooperative, the Community Building Collaborative and the Southern Maine Worker's Center

Cooperative Feast

a dinner and music celebrating cooperatives, 7pm

Local Sprouts Cooperative cooks will create a delicious dinner and local musicians including Local Sprouts worker-owners will play music. People with worker cooperative ideas are encouraged to share them between (or with) music and through a creative delicious night we will support our community’s new cooperative visions.

Dinner & Music Suggestion Donation: $15-30

For planning purposes please RSVP for the Afternoon Workshop and for the Cooperative Feast.  To RSVP please send an email to food@localsprouts.coop.

For more info go to www.localsprouts.coop or call 207-615-9970

After a successful Kickstarter campaign and many great clips released along the way, SHIFT CHANGE hits the theaters this week in Oakland.

Tickets are now on sale for the World Premiere of  SHIFT CHANGE! We hope you will join us in Oakland, California, on October 18 for what promises to be a great party.

World Premiere Screening!

Thursday, October 18, 2012 |  Grand Lake Theater, Oakland, CA  |  8:00pm

Tickets: http://shiftchange.bpt.me 

The filmmakers and special guests will be joined by many of the Bay Area worker-owners who appear in the film, for this gala screening and celebration of the completion of SHIFT CHANGE. Special guests include Gayle McLaughlin, Mayor of Richmond, CA, Ted Howard, Executive Director of the Democracy Collaborative, and many more to be announced!

There are discounted tickets available for members of the Network of Bay Area Worker Coops. More info is available on the ticketing site.

The recent International Summit of Cooperatives in Quebec has posted a gallery of videos from the event. Here are a few (multilingual) samples.

What advantages do cooperatives offer in the present socio-economic context?

What advantages do cooperatives offer in the present socio-economic context?

How cooperatives can do business differently?

The Network of Bay Area Cooperatives placed this detailed 8-page insert in the current East Bay Express, including an introduction to the movement, a regional map, and ads from many NoBAWC members.  Also available in a flash format.

The audio recording is available for this year's SXSW panel Tech Cooperatives: A Better Way to Make a Living.  (Previously)

Most experienced IT folks have faced the choice of freelancing versus working for an established business. Freelancing offers creative autonomy but not necessarily steady income. A job with a larger company provides a steady paycheck but often comes with creative and personal constraints.  We are part of a growing movement among creative professionals who want an alternative to traditional business structures. The worker-cooperative business model enables IT professionals to maintain control of their work and life, produce excellent work, and retain the benefits of the value that they create, without sacrificing security. Our tech cooperatives offer the support and team approach of a firm but are entirely owned and democratically governed by the folks who work in them - us.  This is a moderated panel with a focused, first-person discussion of different experiences of working in tech cooperatives. We will explain why a growing number of IT professionals prefer working in a co-op setting, the advantages and drawbacks of a democratic workplace, and the processes of starting and maintaining a worker cooperative.

Drew Stephan Web Developer C4 Tech & Design

Drew has been a part of C4 Tech & Design since 2008, working as a web developer and project manager for a diverse client base that includes dozens of local businesses and non-profits, as well as regional and national organizations. A native of Massachusetts and a graduate of La Salle University in Philadelphia, he brings several years of web development and internet organizing experience to the web team, as well as a background in writing and editing for print publications around the country. Before joining C4, he was the lead web developer for the Public Interest Network, a national network of over 100 non-profit environmental and consumer advocacy organizations. When not behind the computer, he enjoys playing drums with his band and taking time to appreciate everything about the city, including the year-round biking weather and New Orleanians' seemingly inexhaustible joie de vivre.

Jack Aponte Worker-Owner Palante Technology

Jack Aponte is a worker-owner at Palante Technology Cooperative, a NYC-based coop that helps community organizations move forward with the aid of technology. Jack specializes in building Drupal sites, technology planning, and training and documentation. Jack is an erstwhile blogger at AngryBrownButch and Feministe and is involved in organizing & movements around social, economic, and media justice and in queer, trans, and people of color communities.

Poonam Whabi Graphic Designer Design Action Collective

Designer and web Developer, Design Action Collective — Poonam came to the U.S. in 1999 from her home in the United Arab Emirates. With a long-time commitment in social justice work, she has has contributed her skills to numerous progressive non-profit organizations and community projects. She has been at Design Action Collective since 2004 and among other things, she is currently an active participant in the worker cooperative movement in the Bay Area.

Raeanne Young Worker Owner Quilted

Raeanne Young is a worker-owner at Quilted, a worker-owned, cooperatively-managed web company. Quilted provides strategic consulting, graphic design, web development, as well as game design and development services to progressive arts, education, and non-profit organizations. Prior to Quilted, Raeanne worked in technology policy promoting digital rights at the Center for Democracy and Technology. She spends much of her time thinking about how to create better value-driven development processes, collaborative design projects, and business practices that support workers as whole people.

Jai Jai Noire's long-awaited This Way Out: a Guide to Starting a Worker Cooperative is out!  The 2-DVD set is available from the Mighty Small Films website for about $30, including shipping.  One of the best parts about the project is that it is made up of interviews with many vibrant worker cooperative owners who are blazing a path with their successful businesses.  The sneak peak promo shows worker-owners from Design Action, Electic Embers, Arizmendi, Heartwood, Box Dog Bikes, Biofuel Oasis, Quilted, Co-Soap, and others.  A project like this only seems to come a long once per decade, so it is worth checking out.  Meanwhile an impressive collection of source videos are available free on Jai Jai's youtube channel.

Mike Leung, chief organizer of the proposed Worker Cooperative Federal Credit Union and Abolish Human Rentals discusses worker cooperatives and financing issues.

From Jai Jai Noire

 The Eastern Conference for Workplace Democracy (ECWD; east.usworker.coop) is an educational non-profit dedicated to promoting worker cooperatives and the cooperative economy.  We aim to make the skills, information and networks necessary to run a successful cooperative business available as widely as possible through educational events such as our bi-annual conference.  Founded in 1999, the 2013 conference will be our 7th conference. 

We are seeking an individual, team of two, or group to plan, organize, and implement the 2013 regional conference on worker cooperatives and workplace democracy.  The conference will be held toward the end of July 2013; we have yet to determine the location.  The Conference Organizer will work closely with the Eastern Coordinating Council (ECC - the conference planning committee), and focused sub-committees of the ECC.  If funding is available, the Conference Organizer and ECC may also choose to hire a secondary organizer in the Fall, with whom the Conference Organizer will work.

Materials from the 2011 Business Succession and Employee Ownership Conference in Quebec City.

Issues and Challenges of Business Transfers

Roy Messing, Ohio Employee Ownership Center

Video

Worker Co-op Conversion: Tools Available and the Resources in Place

Roy Messing, Ohio Employee Ownership Center 

Video | Powerpoint

U.S. Case Study - Select Machine

Roy Messing

Powerpoint

ESOP:  a U.S. Model for Employee Buy-outs

Don Jamison, Vermont Employee Ownership Center

Powerpoint

Partnership with trade unions in the conversion to worker co-ops

Greg O'Neill, Western Labour Co-op Council

Powerpoint

Issues and Challenges of Business Transfers

Peter Hough, Canadian Worker Co-opertive Federation

Video

Canadian Case Study - Careforce

Peter Hough

Powerpoint

Argentinian Case Study - Envases Flexibles Mataderos

Jose Orbaiceta, Worker Co-op Federation of Argentina,

Pdf

Business Succession Strategies to Employee Ownership in Argentina

Jose Orbaiceta, Worker Co-op Federation of Argentina,

Powerpoint

Business Succession Strategies to Employee Ownership in Italy

Alberto Zevi, Legacoop

Video: part one, part two |Powerpoint

Financing to Convert a Business into a Worker Co-operative in Italy

Alberto Zevi, Legacoop

Video | Powerpoint | Word

Italian Case Study – D & C

Alberto Zevi, Legacoop

Video | Powerpoint

Financing to Convert a Business into a Worker Co-operative

Marty Frost, Devco Development Co-op

Video | Powerpoint

Closing Plenary/Analysis of Results

Hazel Corcoran, Canadian Worker Co-operative Federation

Video | Word

From Neechi Foods Co-op

An inner-city cooperative is inviting the general public to buy investment shares as a way of promoting “economic healing”. Today Neechi Foods Co-Op launched its first Investment Share Offering. The purpose of the share offering is to help raise capital needed to complete the development of Neechi Commons Community Business Complex at 865 Main St. The Investment Shares are being sold to the general public, marking the first time that any cooperative in Manitoba has offered shares to non-members as well as to members. Residents of Manitoba will be eligible for the Province’s 30 % Community Enterprise Development Tax Credit on share purchases of up to $30,000. These Class A Shares are modestly priced at $100 per share to encourage broad public participation. Class B shares, which sell for $1,000 each, are geared to organizations and to individuals who do not qualify for the provincial tax credit.

Neechi is hoping to tap into the growing public interest in socially responsible investment (SRI), whereby monetary returns are balanced with social and environmental benefits. Neechi’s president, Louise Champagne, emphasized that, “investing in Neechi Commons is not about chasing speculative cash gains”. “Instead, it is about investing in a down-to-earth business that projects large community benefits alongside relatively modest financial returns. It is hoped that Neechi Commons will open in June, helping to bring badly needed revitalization to Main Street north of the CPR tracks and to adjoining north-end neighbourhoods. It will feature a neighbourhood supermarket, a fruit and vegetable courtyard and farmers’ market, cafeteria restaurant, specialty boutiques, a bakery and an Aboriginal arts centre. About 60 jobs will be created, drawing heavily on local area residents in a part of town that has one of the highest urban unemployment rates in Canada. Many of the jobs will go to youth. “It is high time that dignified and meaningful jobs start replacing street gangs”, says Champagne. “Economic balance and self-reliance in Aboriginal communities have been undermined for a very long time. We hope that Neechi Commons will be part of the economic healing that is needed to support personal and social healing.”

Neechi Foods Co-op is incorporated as a worker cooperative, owned and operated by its staff.  A cooperative business model is in line with the primary values of sharing and community that anchored Aboriginal economies for thousands of years. The worker coop model gives people the opportunity to be in charge of their economic destinies as business owners, as well as employees. Because it is the workers who make up the membership in the co-op, the number of members is small compared to most consumer co-ops, where the membership consists of customers. This is one of the main reasons that Neechi’s shares are being offered to non-members as well as to members. Neechi’s existing store at 325 Dufferin Avenue has been in operation for over 22 years. It is particularly renowned for its bannock, wild blueberries and smiles.

The Neechi Commons facility is a make-over and expansion of the old California Fruit Market premises. Now close to 90 per cent complete, it includes geo-thermal heating and cooling and already has been awarded Green Globes certification for its high environmental standards. Project costs for Neechi Commons include property acquisition, construction and opening costs totaling over $7 million. Neechi’s business plan projects $1.5 million in share capital. Both the provincial and federal governments have provided substantial capital grants to help cover construction costs and Assiniboine Credit Union, The Jubilee fund, the Canadian Worker Co-op Federation, co-op members and other individuals have provided credit to advance the construction. “Now we need public support to complete the long-term financing required to make the Commons a success”, says Champagne. “Neechi” (often spelled “Nijii”) is an Ojibwa and Cree term for friend, or sister or brother.

The components of the Investment Share Offering Package can be opened in the following pfd files:

• Share offering package contents   
• Offering Statement Dec 29 2011  
• Offering Statement – Sched A
• Subsrciption form  
• Articles of Incorporaton, Restated 2011 Sept 22   
• Artcles – Appendix 1
• Audit 2010 Auditor’s Report  
• Audit 2010 Statements  
• 2011 Statements (pre audit)