Grassroots Economic Organizing (GEO)’s first e-book, Scaling Up the Cooperative Movement, highlights the role of co-ops in building a more just, egalitarian, and sustainable economy. The books has some very exciting articles:

Conversation

Mondragón and the System Problem –Thomas M. Hanna and Gar Alperovitz

Cooperative Movement Should Engage Government Cautiously –Andrew McLeod

Cooperative Movement Should Embrace Discussion of Systemic Issues –Thomas M. Hanna

Planning Must Be Centered in the Cooperative Movement –Andrew McLeod

Confronting the “System Problem” Cooperatively –Len Krimerman

Serving Life: A New Economy Vision for an Alternative Political-Economic System –Noel Ortega

Cooperative Enterprise and System Change –Joe Guinan

Scaling-Up Democracy Through Empowerment –Michael Johnson

Seizing the Moment: Catalyzing Big Growth for Worker Co-ops –Hilary Abell

Reflections on Moving Beyond Capitalism –Cliff DuRand

Structure vs. Culture: Why Not a “Stulture” That Comines Them? –Len Krimerman

Action Plan for a Co-op Nation –Tony Patterson

Mondragon and Fagor

Creating a Cooperative Culture: Lessons from Mondragon –Caitlin Quigley

Mondragon Feels Pain as It Cuts Off Fagor, One of Its Own –Miles Johnson

Major Mondragon Cooperative Faltering –GEO

When the Right Ones get it Wrong –Michael Peck

Concerns about “Scaling Up” –Marty Heyman

The Promise and Limitations of Worker Co-operatives –Gar Alperovitz, interviewed by Paul Jay of the Real News

In celebration of Black History Month
Dr. Jessica Gordon Nembhard, Professor and Author of
Collective Courage: A History of African American Cooperative Economic Thought and Practice appears on Everything Coop on 2/12/2015

Tune in to WOL 1450 AM, today, at 10:30 a.m. for Everything Coop, hosted by Vernon Oakes. This week Vernon interviews Dr. Gordon Nembhard, Professor of Community Justice and Social Economic Development, and Author of Collective Courage: A History of African American Cooperative Economic Thought and Practice. Mr. Oakes and Dr. Gordon Nembhard will discuss the history of cooperative economics in the movement for civil rights, and the importance of knowledge and integrity in establishing collective economic entities.

Dr. Gordon Nembhard, is a Professor of Community Justice and Social Economic Development in the Department of Africana Studies at John Jay College, of the City University of New York (CUNY) in New York City, USA. She is a political economist specializing in community economic development, wealth inequality, Black political economy, popular economic literacy, and community justice.

Her research has focused on community and asset-based economic development and democratic community economics; cooperative economics and worker ownership; racial and economic wealth inequality and wealth accumulation in communities of color; and alternative urban economic and youth educational development strategies. Her future research and policy analyses will connect community-based economic development, asset building, and economic justice strategies with community-based approaches to justice.

To listen live online Click Here!
or Click Here! to Listen on your cell phone with Tune-in Radio.

Niell Duval and his theater company Banished? Productions run a tool library out of their multi-purpose ARTillery space in Brookland that gives DC-based artists, hobbyists, and home improvers access to tools for an afforable annual membership fee. Artists pay $50 per year + volunteer hours, while any DC area resident pays $100 per year + volunteer hours.

See more at: http://www.jclass.umd.edu/652352/2014fall/smith/dctoollibrary/

More info: http://www.ussen.org/

WOL’s Everything Coop: This week Vernon interviews Anne Reynolds, Executive Director for the University of Wisconsin’s Center for Cooperatives. Vernon and Ms. Reynolds will discuss initiatives and research the university has supported regarding the creation of new cooperatives.

Anne Reynolds is the Executive Director of the University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives. She develops courses, conferences and educational programs at the Center, and has led numerous workshops on board leadership, board roles and responsibilities and strategic planning. Her areas of interest include governance, member loyalty, business structure and innovative uses of the cooperative model.

Ms. Reynolds has worked with cooperatives in all sectors, including agriculture, food, energy, purchasing and worker-owned. She serves on several boards, including The Cooperative Foundation, the Northcountry Cooperative Development Fund, and the Rainbow Bookstore Cooperative.

To listen live online Click Here!
or Click Here! to Listen on your cell phone with Tune-in Radio

Grassroots Economic Organizing (GEO) is a decentralized collective of educators, researchers and grassroots activists working to promote an economy based on democratic participation, worker and community ownership, social and economic justice, and ecological sustainability–a “solidarity economy”–through grassroots journalism, organizing support, cross-sector networking and movement-building and the publication of educational and organizational resources. Since 1991, GEO has published the great GEO Newsletter. The GEO website is an amazing resource on which many people, like Marnie Thompson, depend.

Recently, GEO published “Marion Barry: DC’s Co-op Mayor” based on my paper “Home Rule from Below: The Cooperative Movement in Washington, DC.”

Follow this link to learn more about how you can get involved in GEO’s work.

From the Northcountry Cooperative Development Fund newsletter:

The worker-owners of Red Rabbit Bakery were directly inspired by the Michael Moore documentary Capitalism: A Love Story, back in June 2010. After an initial planning period, which included completing Cooperation Texas’ business start-up course, this cooperative bakery opened for production in May of 2011, and has grown by leaps and bounds ever since. Today the bakery employs ten people, manages twenty-five wholesale accounts, sells at local farmers’ markets, and in just three and a half years has more than quintupled its annual sales. Its next move is to open a coffee shop and café after successfully operating a food truck in the same neighborhood for the last year and a half.

The new coffee shop and café is a partnership with Monkeywrench Books in Austin, and demonstrates Cooperation among Cooperatives, the sixth principle of cooperation (Principle 6). Monkeywrench Books is a volunteer-run radical bookstore and community space collective. By sharing space, the two small cooperatives are able to lower their overhead expenses and share a common customer base. Red Rabbit will also be partnering with Equal Exchange cooperative to offer fair trade espresso and coffee drinks to go along with their own sweet and savory baked goods.

Principle 6 doesn’t end there. Since its inception, Red Rabbit has had a great partner in the Wheatsville Food Co-op, which has been an enthusiastic customer since the very beginning. Dana Tomlin, fresh manager at Wheatsville said, “Our customers were asking for different flavors of donuts and Red Rabbit created a rotation of new and exciting flavors that were affordable and fun.” Red Rabbit’s offerings are featured in both of the food co-op’s locations.

Further, Wheatsville Food Co-op, and Austin-based housing cooperative, College Houses, both offered financial support for Red Rabbit by guaranteeing a portion of NCDF’s first loan. The co-ops in Austin, Texas have clearly demonstrated how cooperatives from many sectors can support each other and grow the local cooperative economy. “Austin is a big, competitive city and we work together to help grow the co-op economy,” Tomlin said.