Steve Herrick

Friday is the longest day of the year. Of course, if the rain continues, it might be hard to tell. It might also be hard to tell what’s happening at MCDC, because we don’t talk a lot about what’s happening behind the scenes. Without delving too far into the details, I can say that we’re… Read More »Solstice (almost)

Worker Cooperatives 101: Equitable Economic Development Join us at the Goodman South Madison Library – 2222 S Park St.Tuesday, June 18 at 12-1:30 pm Light lunch will be provided. RSVP helpful but not necessary. Worker Cooperatives 101 is a program of the Madison Cooperative Development Coalition and Madison Public Library to promote awareness for equitable economic… Read More »Co-ops 101 is now at the South Madison Library

ACE–IRECUS–CASC conference 2019 Longueuil, Quebec (a suburb of Montreal) I consider this conference a big success. Every session was good, and a number were outstanding. Two of them were so useful that I wrote them up in detail: converting businesses to worker co-ops and addressing power dynamics. Additionally, we made many new contacts and renewed… Read More »Montreal

If you noticed that you didn’t get a newsletter from MCDC last week, you’re very perceptive! And there’s a good reason for it. We were at the conference of the Association of Cooperative Educators in Montreal for the entire week. It was outstanding, and we plan to give you a report on it soon. It’s… Read More »Post-Montreal

This week’s newsletter is a follow-up to a post from a couple of weeks ago, where I listed off a number of ideas for future co-ops in Madison. We’ve gotten good feedback on that list, and a solid lead for one of them. So, I’ve taken the next step to create a page on our… Read More »Cooperators wanted!

Thinking of starting a business? Interested in a business model that uplifts your community? Worker cooperatives create meaningful change for communities affected by inequality. Worker co-ops are designed to improve low-wage jobs and build wealth in communities. Worker co-ops help build skills, earning potential, household income, and assets. Tuesday, May 21st at 6:00 pm Tuesday,… Read More »Starting a cooperative business with the Madison Cooperative Development Coalition

This week, we begin an occasional series of interviews that will provide a look into our co-ops in development. We’ve had a number of successes already, and we want you to hear about them! First up is Georgia Allen, the founder and president of Soaring Independent Cooperative, a new home health care agency led by… Read More »Co-op spotlight: Soaring Independent Cooperative

This week’s article will be a bit more abstract than other weeks’, because it discusses what might be, as opposed to what is. In fact, I’ve deliberately chosen to talk about things no one in Madison is doing — yet. What sort of business can be run as a worker co-op? Well, here are some… Read More »Ideas for future co-ops

The co-ops of Argentina are fascinating, although they’d probably prefer not to be. There are over 20,000 cooperatives in Argentina, and the most colorful ones are the 300+ that are known as “recovered businesses.” These are companies that went bankrupt and closed, but the workers re-entered the buildings and re-opened the businesses, now converted to… Read More »For worker co-ops in Argentina, the struggle goes on

If you’re on a cooperative board of directors for the first time, it may not be entirely clear what you’re expected to do, or how to do it. Never fear! The UW Center on Co-ops is here to help you up the learning curve. Co-op Directors 101May 14, 2019, 9:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.Landmark Services… Read More »Calling all new co-op directors!