Co-Op Basics

• What is a cooperative? (video – Cooperatives for a Better World)
• Complete Coop Start-up Kit (CDI)
• Your Study Guide to the Cooperative Movement (TESA)
• Working with Small Business Cooperatives: A guide for public sector, private sector and nonprofit allies (2020)

Co-op Development Guides

• CONSUMERS: The FCI Guide to Starting a Food Co-op
• FARMERS: Cooperative Farming Greenhorns Guidebook
• FREELANCERS: A Technology Freelancer’s Guide to Starting a Worker Coop 
• HOUSING: Start a Co-op & NASCO Organizers’ Handbook
• MULTI-STAKEHOLDER: Solidarity as a Business Model: A Multi-Stakeholder Cooperatives Manual 
• PRODUCERS: Growing a Food System for the Future: A Manual for Cooperative Enterprise Development
• WORKERS: Worker Cooperative Toolbox; Worker Co-op Mini-Guides (USFWC)

Co-op Development

• Boston Center for Community Ownership (BCCO) – worker, self-directed non-profit co-op development center rooted in community organizing; provides organizing support in English and Spanish for startup co-ops and co-op conversions, as well as ongoing training and technical assistance for existing cooperatives.
• Cooperative Development Institute (CDI) – multi-sector technical assistance and co-op development center, with a focus on agricultural producer cooperatives and worker-owned farms and food producers; resident-owned manufactured home communities; and businesses transitioning to employee-ownership.
• ICA Group – a leading expert on worker ownership and the oldest national organization dedicated to the development of worker cooperatives.

Technical Assistance

In addition to the regional and national organizations listed below, many cooperative associations also offer education and peer-support. We are also connected with local service providers throughout the northeast. Contact our TA team for assistance with legal, accounting, facilitation, and conflict transformation referrals.

• Columinate Consulting – national consulting cooperative serving mission-driven organizations, including food co-ops, electric co-ops, healthcare organizations, credit unions, schools, and nonprofits
• Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture (CISA) – technical assistance for farms and food businesses of all kinds, including processors, distributors, and producers of value-added products like jams, cheeses, and pickles.
• Co-op Clinic (US Federation of Worker Cooperatives) – network of peer advisors provide technical assistance services to worker co-ops and democratic workplace, including decision-making, co-op finances, boards, bylaws and more.
• Democracy at Work Institute (DAWI) – movement-based think-and-do tank supporting worker cooperatives to grow to a scale that creates meaningful change in the economy.
• Food Coop Initiative (FCI) – resources for people in the U.S. working to start a retail food cooperative that meets the needs of their community.
• Northeast Farmers of Color Land Trust (NEFOC) – training, education, markets, business development, and financial planning for farmers and land stewards of color; facilitation of land return, donation, rematriation, and purchase.
• North American Students of Cooperation (NASCO) –  organizes,  provides resources, and assists development of affordable group equity co-ops and their members for the purpose of promoting a community-oriented cooperative movement.
• TESA Collective (The Toolbox for Education and Social Action) – education and development services for cooperatives; works with organizations and groups to build tools, games, and programs for their cause.

Employee Ownership Basics

• Becoming Employee Owned Overview and Checklist (DAWI)
• Becoming Employee-Owned Toolkit (DAWI)
• Employee Ownership Equals
• Exploring Opportunities in Employee Ownership: A Workbook for Small Business Owners (EOEquals)
• Transitions to Worker Ownership: What does it mean for workers? (ICAGroup – worker-focused)
• Worker Ownership: What does it mean for your business? (ICAGroup – seller-focused)

Technical Assistance Providers (Conversions)

• Business Ownership Solutions program (Cooperative Development Institute) –  expertise in cooperative design, financial analysis, business planning, transaction structure and financing, and education and training needed to execute a successful conversion to an employee-owned company.
• ICA Group – a leading expert on worker ownership and the oldest national organization dedicated to the development of worker cooperatives.
• Project Equity – provides hands-on consulting and support to companies that want to transition to employee ownership, as well as to the new employee-owners to ensure that they, and their businesses, thrive after the transition.
• Vermont Employee Ownership Center (VEOC) – provides information and resources to owners interested in selling their business to their employees, employee groups interested in purchasing a business, and entrepreneurs who wish to start up a company with broadly shared ownership.
• Workers to Owners Collaborative (Democracy at Work Institute) – a national collaborative of organizations working to transition small businesses to worker- and employee-ownership

Articles

• A Generation of Lending to Food Co-ops National Co+op Grocer “Network News” January 2019
• Are Cooperatives Really So Difficult to Finance? November 2018
• The Lending Opportunity of a Generation (with Project Equity and the Democracy At Work Initiative) 2016

Watch This

Check out all of our playlists and curated content on CFNE’s YouTube channel! See below for sector-specific playlists of technical assistance / how-to videos as well.

• Co-op Entity Formation for Entrepreneurs (Sustainable Economies Law Center, 2020)
• Finance options for worker cooperatives (USFWC, 2021)
• How Can Communities Work Together to Acquire & Control Property (Boston Ujima Project & CFNE, 2021)
• P5 Learning Series: Open Book Management, Loan Readiness, and Conflict Resolution (Cooperative Maine Business Alliance, 2021)
• Reparations and the Cooperative Movement: A Conversation with Ed Whitfield and Jessica Gordon Nembhard (USFWC, 2020)
• Worker Co-op Startup Webinar (US Federation of Worker Co-ops, 2021)

Sector-Specific Playlists

• CONSUMER/FOOD: Food Co-op Initiative FCI LIVE playlists
• FARMING: Maine Organic Farmers & Gardeners Association channel
• HOUSING – Shared Equity: North American Student Cooperators Organization (NASCO) Creating a Housing Cooperative Development Budget series & NASCO YouTube channel
• HOUSING: ROCs – ROC Leadership Institute playlist
• PURCHASING: National Cooperative Business Association webinar playlist
• WORKER: US Federation of Worker Cooperatives Co-op Clinic playlist