UPCOMING EVENTS April 11 – 12: California Coop Conference, Berkeley CA May 2 – 4: Jackson Rising, Jackson MI May 30 – Worker Cooperative National June 1: Conference, Chicago IL June 6 – 8: New Economy Coalition Conference, Boston MA July 13 – 16: Association of Cooperative Educators (ACE) Institute, Austin TX Sept 9 – 11: National Coop Business Association, annual conference, Minneapolis MN Oct 6 – 9: 2nd Annual International Cooperatives Summit, Quebec Canada http://usworker.coop/events US Federation of Worker Cooperatives PO Box 170701 San Francisco, CA 94117 USFWC NEWS UPDATES, INSPIRATION AND GOINGS-ON FROM THE U.S. FEDERATION OF WORKER COOPERATIVES Spring 2014 In NYC, Partnerships Help Build a Strong Policy Agenda for Worker Coops By Joe Rinehart, Rural Programs Coordinator, USFWC n recent months the worker coopera- and testified, the hearing prompted tive business model has achieved sig- follow-up meetings where local govern- nificant recognition by government ment agencies are now actively explor- Iofficials in New York City. What ing opportunities to formally support tipped the scale of interest was the for worker coop development. release of a policy paper by a local coali- But this didn’t just happen tion urging the city to formally support overnight. What’s less visible are the worker cooperatives. The policy paper, conditions created over time that ‘Worker Cooperatives for New York allowed a coalition to create and seize City: A Vision for Addressing Income opportunities to increase awareness Inequality’, became the focus of a half of – and institutional support for – the -day conference with over 100 attend- worker cooperative model. These ees interested in developing a platform conditions include: to scale worker cooperatives in the city. • Local worker cooperatives and This mini-conference sparked interest developers embedded in their from NYC Councilwoman Maria communities, with social ties and a Arroyo, who called for a special hearing history of collaboration of the City Council’s Committee on • Allies embedded inside of larger officials, city agency representatives Community Economic Development • A coop ‘ecosystem’ networked with organizations capable of offering and community organizations to convened on February 24, 2014. As an apex organization (nycworker. support establish foundational support for coop) dozens of supporters filled the room • Intentional outreach to elected the model Continued on page 2 Celebrating 10 Years: A look back to 2004 Did you know the USFWC is officially ten years old this year? To celebrate our origins – and how far we’ve come – what follows is an excerpt from an article in GEO Newsletter reporting on that conference. More than one hundred worker owners from around the country met in Minneapolis May 24-26, 2004 to found the first United States Federation of Worker Cooperatives and Democratic Workplaces. The new national federation is the result of decades of discussion and organizing at local and regional levels. This activ- ity has intensified in the past few years, largely through the increased participation of young cooperators fueled by the vision that “Another world is possible.” Held at the University of Minnesota’s Hubert H. Humphrey Center for Public Policy, the national federa- tion’s founding event was co-sponsored by The Cheese Board Collective, Chroma Technology, the Cooperative Foundation, Eastern Conference on Workplace Democracy, the National Cooperative Bank’s Development Corporation, and Rainbow Grocery Cooperative. In plenary sessions, the new federation took shape. Participants hammered out the framework for mem- bership, governance, and possible services. They chose a name for the new entity: United States Federation of Worker Cooperatives and Democratic Workplaces. Delegates elected the founding board of directors, which Artist’s rendering of USFWC founding conference included four regional representatives and five at-large members: Lori Burge of People’s Co-op in Portland, OR (photo unavailable) (West); Ajowa Nzinga Ifateyo, of GEO collective (East); Bob Cahill of Arise Bookstore & Resource Center in Continued on page 4 EDITOR’S NOTE: USFWC NEWS Editor: Melissa Hoover Contributing Writers: Melissa Hoover, Amy Johnson, Joe Rinehart, The Power of Ten Sabiha Basrai, Mary Hoyer, Jane Livingston, Jessica Gordon Nembhard, Steve Herrick, Melissa Young, David appy birthday, USFWC mem- Founding members paid dues Work Institute to expand the promise Morgan bers! Our Federation is officially immediately and enthusiastically. These of worker cooperatives to communities Layout: Design Action ten years old! To celebrate, let’s dues helped the staffer work a weekday most affected by economic inequality, Printing: InkWorks Press Htake a little trip back in time…. in addition to nights and weekends. while rooting that expansion in a Back in May 2004, an intrepid group We answered the phone, planned a member-led movement. This year USFWC STAFF of practical visionaries from around the biannual conference, developed some we’ll debut tools, publish research, and Melissa Hoover, Executive Director country got together under the watchful benefits, and educated the public, train leaders in the field of cooperative Amy Johnson, Membership & eyes of the Hubert Humphrey portrait always recruiting more members. development. Advocacy Director hanging in the student center at the Worker cooperatives and cooperative The USFWC and the Institute are Joe Rinehart, Rural Programs Coordinator University of Minneapolis and decided development started to explode in the now central organisms in an ecosystem to start a national federation. There public consciousness. A visionary group that includes cooperatives, community was significant dispute about whether of worker-owners started the DAWN groups, sustainable small businesses, USFWC BOARD OF we should or could call ourselves a project to train worker cooperative peer and other forms of shared ownership. DIRECTORS movement. Forging ahead through the advisors. More worker cooperatives We are helping shape what people uncertainty, those in the room elected started, at all scales. Local groups are calling a New Economy. We got Anna Boyer C4 Tech a Board. That board built a website. started sprouting up. here with the support and patience New Orleans, LA They hired a staffer. That staffer worked Today, the Federation has over 110 and participation of our members. We nights and weekends to put out a workplace members, and grows at a got here by following our principles. Vanessa Bransburg Center for Family Life charmingly grassroots recruitment rate of about 30% per year. More than We’ll get to the next stage only when Brooklyn, NY brochure. Founding member Collective half of the USFWC’s new members we marry our principles to power, Dana Curtis Copies reminded the staffer that every year are newly formed worker when we come together in coalitions Black Star Co-op Pub & Brewery they were available for higher-quality cooperatives. Staff now work way too to increase our impact. We’re serious Austin, TX printed materials. Still more members much full time. We provide high- about this cooperative economy, and Rebecca Kemble contributed in-kind food and coffee to quality technical assistance to members we’re working together to create Union Cab Cooperative the second national conference national and the public alike. We have started the conditions that support it. Let’s Madison, WI conference. Volunteers hand-delivered to advocate for public policy to support see what this principled, powerful Becca Koganer healthy foods to the conference at the broad-based business ownership. In movement can accomplish in the next Equal Exchange corner of Wall Street and Broad Street. 2013, we launched the Democracy at ten years. West Bridgewater, MA Due to changes in their profes- sional lives, at-large members, David IN NYC... (Continued from page 1) Smathers Moore and Ben Mauer, Who Contacts the USFWC? both stepped down from the Board in • Organizations interested in, and March 2014. capable of, large scale cooperative Being a national organization, we field calls from every corner of the country. development In addition to supporting our members, USFWC staff receives dozens of public OFFICES: inquiries. Recent highlights: 564 Market St., Suite 521 San Francisco, CA 94104 In addition to these conditions, • community organizer in Phoenix, AZ • worker-owners seeking support in a strong advocate from outside the wants to host a ‘Worker Coop 101’ info responding to state workers compen- worker cooperative community, the session sation board MAILING: Federation of Protestant Welfare • graduate student researching sustain- • multiple requests for coop-friendly PO Box 170701 San Francisco, CA 94117 Agencies (FPWA), helped catalyze the ability initiatives of USFWC members accountant referrals drafting of the policy paper. FPWA, a • professor in Maryland requested our • start-ups in various stages seeking coalition of 200 non-profits in NYC, Worker Coop Census dataset basic ‘how-to’ resources from Texas, began to examine the potential of • examples of cooperatively-run media Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, incorporating worker cooperatives into outlets California, Maine, and Ohio their workforce development work. FPWA provided the resources necessary to research and write the policy paper and offered to leverage their connections with local leaders to bring attention to worker cooperatives. Only six months into this work and the coalition has successfully secured