Olympia’s Blue Heron Bakery, a USFWC member, transitioned to worker and community ownership with support from the City of Olympia and the NWCDC, according to The Journal of Olympia, Lacey & Tumwater. Since converting, “The long-established business has grown significantly—adding nearly 25% more jobs and increasing its sales by 36%, demonstrating how cooperative conversions can both preserve and expand local employment,” the journal reports.
But steep federal funding cuts threaten co-op development. States and cities must step up their investments to keep worker co-ops growing and thriving.
By declaring 2025 the International Year of Cooperatives, the UN offered the U.S. cooperative movement a rare opening: the power of global attention. At a time of deep political uncertainty and economic volatility, the world is searching for models of economic and democratic renewal. Cooperatives offer a path forward.
Olympia joins Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Anchorage, Pittsburgh and Meadville. With these resolutions, cooperators are leveraging the UN’s spotlight on cooperatives to begin or expand regional commitment to supporting local worker cooperative enterprises.
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