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Catalyzing worker co-ops & the solidarity economy

Retail Trade

January 30, 2025

Movers and Shakers on the Northeast US Co-op Scene

Movers and shakers from Co-op Power, the Old Creamery Co-op, Real Pickles, River Valley Co-op, & UMass Five College Credit Union, Valley Alliance of Worker Cooperatives, Downtown Sounds, Flat Iron coffee house, Neighboring Food Co-op Association, Our Family Farms, & PV Squared.

Citations

Malikia Johnson (2024).  I Got 5 On It: Co-op Rhody Turns Community Proverbs into a Cannabis-Based Business Model.  Grassroots Economic Organizing (GEO).  https://geo.coop/articles/i-got-5-it-co-op-rhody-turns-community-proverbs-cannabis-based-business-model

October 31, 2024

I Got 5 On It: Co-op Rhody Turns Community Proverbs into a Cannabis-Based Business Model

In 2022 Rhode Island passed the Rhode Island Cannabis Act. This made cannabis legal for adult use and mandated that a cannabis retailer license will be awarded to one social equity applicant and one worker cooperative per zone. There will be four licenses per geographic zone which means that half of the licenses are meant to create racial and economic justice within the cannabis industry in Rhode Island. A total of 12 licenses are specifically reserved for social equity applicants and worker cooperatives.

October 28, 2024

Community Ownership and Racial Justice in the Cannabis Industry

In this video, our panel of experts in the cooperative cannabis industry discuss challenges and opportunities to expand ownership and give reparations to those impacted by the War on Drugs.

July 25, 2024

The Rise & Fall of Black Cat Cafe Workers Cooperative

In this episode Nacho speaks candidly about the highs & the lows of his & Carla's 10 year journey with Black Cat Cafe. Even though from the outside Black Cat Cafe seems to be extremely successful Nacho shares about the constant challenges they faced - the difficulties paying members & staff fairly, and the set backs when trying to attract & retain worker members.

March 4, 2024

Other Avenues Grocery Cooperative

Celia LoBuono Gonzalez joins us on the show this episode to share her story and that of Other Avenues Grocery Cooperative.

January 4, 2024

Stitching a Co-operative Future in Victoria, BC

In the heart of Victoria, British Columbia, a remarkable transformation story has been threaded by The Make House. What started as a 10-year-old sole proprietorship blossomed into a worker co-operative in December 2022.

November 30, 2023

Artisans Cooperative: An Etsy alternative, owned and run by artists and makers

This is a story of how the makers who create a living off their hard-earned skills, banded together to challenge this dominant business ethic, and about the cooperative they built that’s just now getting off the ground. It is a venture that aims to grow at the speed of trust to serve the makers, the customers, and the staff who run it.

Citations

Dylan Hatch, Adam Trott (2023).  Worker Co-ops Fund Themselves, Solve Equipment Crisis.  Grassroots Economic Organizing (GEO).  https://geo.coop/articles/worker-co-ops-fund-themselves-solve-equipment-crisis

April 24, 2023

Worker Co-ops Fund Themselves, Solve Equipment Crisis

How the VAWC Inter-cooperative Loan Fund helped save the fledgling worker co-op Flat Iron Coffeehouse.

January 23, 2023

Mountain Equipment Catastrophe

Dru Oja Jay is joined by Kevin Harding, one of the organizers of a spirited hail-mary attempt to save Mountain Equipment Co-op from being sold off to a US private equity firm.

December 22, 2022

NYC's Christmas Tree Cooperative

Ellis from New York State of Pine discusses the Christmas tree business and how he became a worker-owner.