Connecting with the National Co-op System: A Recap of our July Gathering
Our July event on cooperative businesses focused on connecting with the national cooperative system. And, that event is connected with our next gathering, October 5, which you can register for now.
Shevanthi Daniel shared valuable tips about how DAWI can support co-op businesses.
At our July gathering, guest speaker Shevanthi Daniel highlighted the support that co-ops can seek from the Democracy at Work Institute (DAWI). We also heard a preview of the Worker Co-Op Conference Sept. 25-26 in Roxbury, Massachusetts, from attendees at last year’s conference. The conference is hosted by the U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives (USFWC).
Shevanthi Daniel -- Deputy Director at DAWI, a sister organization to the USFWC -- described some of the ways DAWI can help co-ops thrive; the state of the co-op sector locally and nationally; and the impact data they collect for the field.
Washington is among the top 10 states for cooperative businesses, she said, though Seattle is not one of the top 10 cities. The top 10 industries for co-ops are businesses supporting consulting; education/childcare; agriculture; construction; arts and entertainment; engineering and manufacturing; retail; restaurants and bars; cleaning; and grocery.
The big growth is in service co-ops that provide back-end services. Shevanthi said that co-op startups are increasing, but businesses that convert to employee-owned are more common.
One of the most common questions she gets from co-ops is about governance principles, and DAWI offers many resources. Skander Mzali, a worker-owner of a technology co-op in Seattle, said he found DAWI’s Democratic Management Guide to be very helpful. Find their extensive resources at https://institute.coop
Pictured Above, left-right: Mike Seo of Seattle Cooperators Meetup welcomes the group; Nick offers accounting services to fellow co-op folks; Skander describes his experience with the DAWI resources; co-op investor Nathan listens to the presentation.
Spencer described his experience at last year’s conference.
Next, co-op community member Spencer Riddering talked about attending the Worker Co-op Conference last year, and his tips for making the most of the experience, including the most effective ways to network at this conference.
We met at the Collective Justice office on Seattle’s Capitol Hill. Thank you, Collective Justice! And as always, the event’s conversation & networking also came with food provided by the Learning Community from a local restaurant.
From this group of attendees, our Learning Community chose several community members for a scholarship to attend this year’s Conference.
Coming Up Next:
At our next Co-Op event, Oct. 5, 5:50 p.m. at Collective Justice’s offices on Capitol Hill, you can find out who the scholarship winners are. They’ll share their learnings with us at that gathering. It’s free, and food will be provided. Register for “Report-outs from the national Worker Co-op Conference”!
The COO Learning Community regularly partners with Seattle Cooperators Meetup to host these co-op learning events around King County, visiting different cooperative businesses and communities, as an effort to share information and models for cooperative and community ownership.
Pictured Above, at left, from left-right: Spencer; Ben (who spoke — and hosted us — at our March event at Watershed Pub and Kitchen); and Liz, Watershed Pub co-owner/also Ben’s mom. Center: Whitney, COO Learning Community lead, and co-op community member Mario. Right: Co-op investor Nathan (also a speaker at our March event).