“It’s really an institution in the community,” Blumenthal said this week. Blumenthal, 70, opened the store in 1976, with no musical background. Yet his father told him that if he […]
Read More >Category Archives: Worker Co-op Stories
Fashion production co-op run by refugee, immigrant women to open in Chicago
“…Now, Mercy — who asked that we not use her last name — is one of three founding members of Blue Tin Production, a fashion production co-op run by immigrant […]
Read More >A National Worker Co-op Financing Network Emerges
Connelly and others recognized that the community needed to take the lead in its own revival—or else risk having others develop the community, but in ways that promote gentrification and […]
Read More >The Co-op That’s Keeping Community Money Out of Big Banks
Connelly’s credit union is part of a strategy by a nonprofit consortium of investors, financial organizations, and community development groups known as the Financial Cooperative to set up locally controlled […]
Read More >Nonprofit helps employees take hold of reins as business owners retire
“I’ve been approaching retirement for a long time,” Adams said with a chuckle. “I couldn’t imagine being 80 and carrying on at the same level, but how else do you […]
Read More >This new fund will help retiring baby boomers turn their businesses into worker co-ops
In May, the Evergreen Cooperatives, a network of worker-owned businesses in Cleveland, took over operations of a laundry facility owned by the Cleveland Clinic. On the surface, it was a […]
Read More >New Cleveland Fund Will Acquire Businesses and Sell Them Back to Workers
Tameka Thomas had returned to society after a five-year prison sentence, and a month after her release, she landed a job with Evergreen Cooperatives in Cleveland with help from a re-entry transition […]
Read More >Worker Ownership Initiative Launched by Nonprofit Lender in Nation’s Capital
Last week, a nonprofit community development financial institution (CDFI), the Washington Area Community Investment Fund (WACIF), which has operated in the nation’s capital since 1987, launched its DC Employee Ownership Initiative to help existing worker-owned business […]
Read More >Coalition Launches Rural Employee Ownership Transition Initiative in Maine
Two months ago, NPQ profiled an initiative supported by US Department of Agriculture (USDA) grants to encourage retiring business owners to sell their businesses to their employees in Oregon, Washington. Now a […]
Read More >Worker Ownership Initiative Launched by Nonprofit Lender in Nation’s Capital
The initiative will also provide lending support not just to businesses that convert to employee ownership, but to businesses that launch as worker cooperatives. An example cited at the forum […]
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