{"id":460,"date":"2019-04-30T17:06:57","date_gmt":"2019-04-30T17:06:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mcdcmadison.org\/?p=460"},"modified":"2019-04-30T17:07:01","modified_gmt":"2019-04-30T17:07:01","slug":"ideas-for-future-co-ops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mcdcmadison.org\/es\/2019\/04\/30\/ideas-for-future-co-ops\/","title":{"rendered":"Ideas for future co-ops"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This week\u2019s article will be a bit more abstract than other weeks\u2019, because it discusses what might be, as opposed to what is. In fact, I\u2019ve deliberately chosen to talk about things no one in Madison is doing — yet.
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Sara DeHaan [CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a>], via Wikimedia Commons<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What sort of business can be run as a worker co-op? Well, here are some examples: a bakery<\/a> (there<\/a> are<\/a> many<\/a>), restaurant<\/a>, engineering firm<\/a>, medical clinic<\/a>, construction supplier<\/a>, wood shop<\/a>, metal shop<\/a>, house<\/a> cleaner<\/a> (there<\/a> are<\/a> many<\/a>), pizzeria<\/a>, clothing manufacturer<\/a>, bike manufacturer<\/a>, rifle manufacturer<\/a>, programming<\/a>, farming<\/a>, delivery service<\/a>, landscaping<\/a>, home<\/a> health<\/a> care<\/a>, taxis<\/a>, magazine<\/a>, newspaper<\/a>, web<\/a> host<\/a>, day-care<\/a>, higher education<\/a>, even a strip club<\/a>, and the list goes on<\/a>. In other words, almost any business at all can be a worker co-op. And the few things that might not be practical as a worker co-op could still be a consumer co-op, worker-consumer hybrid, housing co-op, or credit union, each of which is a whole other subject, with its own interesting examples.
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So, what kinds of things could folks in Madison cooperate on? We\u2019ve already seen some great ideas, but there\u2019s always room for more. Here are some thoughts.
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Marketing. <\/strong>If there\u2019s one thing every worker co-op in Madison could use some help with, it\u2019s marketing. Naturally, a marketing co-op wouldn\u2019t limit itself to working for co-ops, but it might specialize in them.
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Child care. <\/strong>MCDC is in talks with a group of people who want to start a child-care co-op, but this is the kind of service no city will ever have enough of.
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Home\/business cleaning. <\/strong>This is a proven model in other states (see above). Workers here in Madison would have little difficulty organizing as a cooperative.
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Home\/business remodeling and retrofitting. <\/strong>This is another sector where skills are largely concentrated in the workers. It wouldn\u2019t be that hard for them to learn self-management, and become worker-owned and operated.
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Auto repair. <\/strong>It\u2019s in everyone\u2019s interest to keep cars running as long as they can, and as efficiently as they can.
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Sustainability. <\/strong>There is a huge amount of potential here. <\/p>\n\n\n\n