Cooperatives as Values-Based Businesses Workshop | SAFSF Forum

The nexus between labor and food historically was about workplace conditions: wages, benefits, and working conditions. Only recently has the labor conversation in the food movement shifted to include business ownership, and this new addition to the dialogue is an important one. This workshop will provide an overview of the various forms of cooperatives and then focus in on worker-owned cooperatives. We will discuss why cooperatives are important to consider for business development, the ways they are financed, successful examples from around the country, the technical assistance and tools many co-ops need during the development phases, and why worker-owned co-ops are significantly underrepresented in the cooperative business landscape.

Facilitator:
Mark Fick, director of lending operations, Chicago Community Loan Fund; board president, Center for Workplace Democracy, IL

Speakers:
Kristen Barker, interim CEO, Our Harvest Cooperative; president, Cincinnati Union Co-op Initiative, OH
Ted Howard, executive director, Democracy Collaborative, OH
Melissa Hughes, director of governmental affairs, CROPP Cooperative, WI