Swimming in the Mainstream: How to Build Alliances with Small Business Groups and City Government 

This workshop will share information about how worker cooperatives, their owners and supporters can 1) take advantage of services and benefits offered by mainstream business support organizations and 2) increase visibility of the viability of worker coops to these potentially important allies. This will be a directed brainstorming / discussion session and a preliminary exploration of the following questions. Participants should bring examples from their experiences and investigations.

    * What are the groups and agencies that support business in our communities?
    * What benefits might worker-cooperatives get from participation in these groups?
    * What are the “costs” associated?
    * What can we learn from them?
    * What can they learn from us?
    * Can these groups help us build our movement?
    * What message about cooperatives do we want to share with them?
    * Are there groups we don’t like or should stay away from? Why?
    * Are there other useful endeavors that worker cooperatives can participate in (i.e. trade associations, community campaigns, councils etc.)?

Erin Rice was a worker-owner at Collective Copies in Amherst, MA for 12 years. She holds an MBA from the University of Massachusetts. Recently she has been a free-lance do-gooder, working in community economic and non-profit development in Louisiana for the past few years.