This article in the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston’s Magazine Communities & Banking, highlights the Wellspring Upholstery Cooperative, a new worker-owned business supported by over fifteen anchor institutions and community-based organizations in Springfield, Massachusetts. Established by the Wellspring Collaborative, a network of worker-owned companies modeled after the Evergreen Cooperatives in Cleveland and Mondragón Cooperative Cooperation in Spain, the upholstery cooperative will leverage the purchasing power of anchor institutions to employ ex-offenders and the underemployed.
The International Organisation of Industrial, Artisanal and Service Producers’ Cooperatives
In a new study that provides the first comprehensive understanding of the global worker cooperative landscape, the International Organization of Industrial, Artisanal and Service Producers’ Cooperatives (CICOPA) finds, based on data from more than 25 countries that worldwide 111,000 enterprises employ over 2.9 million people across a number of industries, from manufacturing and social work to real estate and education.
A recent report by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance reviews municipal enterprise models and energy policies from around the country that have helped cities reduce energy use, save money, and create local jobs. Profiling case studies in New York, Tennessee, and California, the report demonstrates that cities have a wide range of tools at their disposal to broaden the base of locally controlled wealth.
In a recent report sponsored by the Metcalf Foundation, ecological economists Peter Victor and Tim Jackson outline conditions for a green economy at a community scale. Questioning the nature of prosperity itself, the authors explore necessary changes in the organization of business to promote economic stability, social justice, full employment, and lasting (environmental sustainable) prosperity. They describe community-based companies and finance alternatives, including the Evergreen Development Cooperative Fund, and how they contribute to local self-reliance, community resilience, and democratic engagement.
This article in the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston’s Magazine Communities & Banking, highlights the Wellspring Upholstery Cooperative, a new worker-owned business supported by over fifteen anchor institutions and community-based organizations in Springfield, Massachusetts. Established by the Wellspring Collaborative, a network of worker-owned companies modeled after the Evergreen Cooperatives in Cleveland and Mondragón Cooperative Cooperation in Spain, the upholstery cooperative will leverage the purchasing power of anchor institutions to employ ex-offenders and the underemployed.
The International Organisation of Industrial, Artisanal and Service Producers’ Cooperatives
In a new study that provides the first comprehensive understanding of the global worker cooperative landscape, the International Organization of Industrial, Artisanal and Service Producers’ Cooperatives (CICOPA) finds, based on data from more than 25 countries that worldwide 111,000 enterprises employ over 2.9 million people across a number of industries, from manufacturing and social work to real estate and education.
A recent report by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance reviews municipal enterprise models and energy policies from around the country that have helped cities reduce energy use, save money, and create local jobs. Profiling case studies in New York, Tennessee, and California, the report demonstrates that cities have a wide range of tools at their disposal to broaden the base of locally controlled wealth.
In a recent report sponsored by the Metcalf Foundation, ecological economists Peter Victor and Tim Jackson outline conditions for a green economy at a community scale. Questioning the nature of prosperity itself, the authors explore necessary changes in the organization of business to promote economic stability, social justice, full employment, and lasting (environmental sustainable) prosperity. They describe community-based companies and finance alternatives, including the Evergreen Development Cooperative Fund, and how they contribute to local self-reliance, community resilience, and democratic engagement.
