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VICE just ran a great article by Katie Way called “Don’t Start Just Any Kind of Business; Start a Worker Co-Op.” It does a nice job explaining why co-ops are better for workers than conventional business, and, even better, it cites Madison’s own Esther West, Mariela Quesada, and Matilde Cachiguango to make the point. Esther… Read More »Don’t start just any kind of business, start a worker co-op (like Roots for Change)!

It’s a co-op-y sort of day here in Madison. First up, at 11:30, Charity Schmidt will be presenting to Dane Buy Local, making the case that small, local business owners should consider selling to their own employees when they’re ready to retire or sell. Register here! Later, the MadWorC book club will have its next… Read More »Today — business succession and book club!

TODAY at noon Central Time: Why Worker Co-ops Should Matter to Labor Unions Presenters: John McNamara / Northwest Co-op Development Center; Lis Ryder / Los Angeles Union Co-op Initiative; Tim Palmer, union organizer; Ra Criscitiello / Service Employees International UnionRegister here. Next Wednesday, February 17 at 11:30 AM Central Time: Business Succession Planning with MCDC Charity Schmidt will present on worker co-ops and… Read More »Upcoming webinars on worker co-ops

Are you a small business owner? If so, do you have a succession plan for when you retire or sell your business? Most owners do not. And without a succession plan, most small businesses either get bought up by some national chain, or they close their doors for good. Either one is bad news for… Read More »Business succession planning with MCDC and Dane Buy Local

The Union Co-ops Council of the US Federation of Worker Co-ops and marketing sponsors Co-op Cincy, Community and Worker Ownership Project, CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies, Northwest Co-op Development Center, Los Angeles Union Co-op Initiative, 1 Worker: 1 Vote, Wellspring Labor Co-ops Committee, Western Massachusetts Area Labor Federation, Temple University Small Business Development Center invite you to attend a… Read More »Why worker co-ops should matter to labor unions (webinar)

Sorry for the short notice! Moving Images invites you to join Esteban Kelly, Executive Director for the U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives, and filmmakers Mark Dworkin and Melissa Young for a screening of SHIFT CHANGE and a discussion about worker coops and their relevance in this time of re-building our local economies.  The webinar is… Read More »TODAY: Shift Change webinar, 1:00 PM

The beginning of a year is always a good time to review the fundamentals. That goes double this year, because it seems quite timely to reaffirm our commitment to democracy. So, what is a worker co-op, and why would you want one? A worker co-op is a business in which all the owners are workers,… Read More »(Re-) Introduction to worker co-ops: you can do this!

Between the pandemic, the economic collapse, the racial injustice, the Presidential campaign, the wildfires, the hurricanes, and the countless Zoom calls, this year can’t end soon enough. Still, the threat of the murder hornets turned out to be overblown, so there’s that. MCDC had a successful year, in spite of the many challenges. We gave… Read More »Happy holidays, and goodbye, 2020!

Collective Courage is a landmark work on the African-American cooperative experience. In hard times — which is to say, pretty much always — African Americans have depended on each other to get by. But it wasn’t until Dr. Jessica Gordon-Nembhard wrote this book that it was possible to get a detailed historical overview of exactly… Read More »Reminder that Collective Courage Book Club starts tomorrow

Iron Roots is a restaurant in development. Its name speaks to how deeply embedded it will be in the community. The members of this co-op got to know each other through having come to Worker Justice Wisconsin to complain about wage theft or working conditions at their respective workplaces. WJW recommended starting a cooperative restaurant… Read More »Iron Roots restaurant