The Cleveland Clinic laundry operation has long been a crown jewel coveted by Evergreen Cooperative Laundry, which along with Evergreen Growers and Evergreen Energy Solutions makes up Evergreen Cooperatives, a nine-year old employee-owned company.
As Brett Jones, executive vice president, told us last year, Evergreen was mission-driven from the start, and continues to be, but it's also a business proposition. It can't depend on the goodwill of major clients alone; it has to demonstrate that it's a profitable and sustainable operation with a diversified portfolio, and it has, so that no one contract is a make or break proposition for any of its three divisions.
"What we've done is try to keep the percentage of revenue from anchor institutions at about 25%," Jones told us. "It's part of what leadership has done, keeping a healthy balance, looking at anchors but also securing other revenue so that when people look at us, we're not too dependent. If you only have two customers, that's a risk. So, in terms of spreading and growing revenue, the Clinic contract would be important for us, but every contract is important."
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Experience tells us that governance in member-owned co-operatives is distinct from that in investor-owned businesses, yet we do not understand fully how this operates in practice. This research study of governance in large co-operatives helps to fill the gaps in our knowledge.
City Hall Steps--May 14, 9 am
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