Northwest Cooperative Development Center

We are so happy to see NWCDC's Board Chair honored for her incredible leadership and support for the Cooperative community.

"Worker co-ops have become more popular in recent years, with the number of worker co-operatives tripling in the past decade. The USA is home to over 750 worker co-ops which generated over $483m in annual revenues in 2023. According to the report, these co-ops show high rates of ethnic, racial and gender diversity and have a 1:1.45 pay ratio between lowest and highest earning workers, compared to 1:344 in large US corporations." https://lnkd.in/gQyhAaaE #WorkerCoops #EmployeeOwnership #Cooperatives

Come join the Northwest Cooperative Development Center at 350 Tacoma in downtown Tacoma on February 27th, 2025 from 4:00pm-5:00pm and learn about worker cooperative development for the city of Tacoma!

"he LEC is a tool developed to extend access to homeownership to low- and moderate-income buyers. In an LEC, residents collectively own and govern their housing—such as an apartment building—but there are restrictions in place to limit the resale price of their ownership interest (share) to a modest appreciation rate. This mechanism permits the seller to collect a modest increase in value while ensuring affordability to future buyers. By contrast, in market-rate co-ops, the sale price is uncapped." https://lnkd.in/g67KwaQC #cooperatives #housing #limitedequity

"Unionized workers at River Valley Co-Op are entering into what they say is a contentious bargaining session with the grocery chain’s management following staffers’ allegations of an unjust firing, inadequate pay, and a toxic workplace culture.?" https://lnkd.in/g9i5Sqvf #cooperatives #workerrights

"The Pet Care Co-op’s members tackle that problem by providing free care for foster pets. This often involves working with aggressive and emotionally unstable animals to make them fit for cohabitation. Besides helping get animals adopted and freeing up foster homes, this gives workers experience with animal care while they earn college credits for their efforts. When Shannon and her husband launched a pet-sitting company in 2015, they discovered that pet care workers without proper training were being harmed, as were the animals they assisted. “We realized there was a real problem in our industry: [Workers] didn’t have access to education,” she recalls. The couple addressed that issue by converting their pet-sitting business to a worker cooperative that offers its employees education and the opportunity to turn animal care into a career." https://lnkd.in/gsqvezPz #cooperatives #workercoops

This will be a recurring event on the 2nd Tuesday of the month in Tacoma!

A great example from Minneapolis on the power of worker ownership through the cooperative enterprise model--helping business owners pass their legacy to a new generation of owners. https://lnkd.in/gbx_X_Ed #cooperatives #employeeownership