Co-op Cincy

We provide holistic cooperative business development, helping teams of entrepreneurs from historically marginalized groups build a network of family-sustaining jobs. 

We foster cooperative businesses through specialized courses and a transition program. We offer three cooperative business development courses: one focused on helping Black-led teams, a second on refugees, and a third on under-employed individuals. These intensive 14-week courses teach the cooperative, worker-owned business model, which puts worker and community well-being before profits. With our support, teams develop and refine cooperative business plans. Training is hands-on, with participants actively testing their assumptions and refining their products or services. 

In addition to our three cooperative business development courses, we offer a program to transition traditional businesses to worker-ownership, with the owner selling the business to their workers. We offer assistance and financing to facilitate this transition. 

The cooperative businesses who emerge from our courses and transition program become part of our cooperative network, sharing resources with each other and benefiting from our ongoing coaching, including technical and financial support. Coaching entails weekly meetings with our staff members, who help cooperative businesses tackle challenges, develop, and evolve. Training and coaching are delivered virtually or in person. The only required technology is a computer.

What makes our solution human-centered is the foundational principle of “putting people before profit” in the cooperative space. People and community are at the core of training, development, and ongoing support. In addition, the worker-owned business model means that workers democratically own and control their businesses, making these businesses human-centered.

Since the 1980s, income and wealth inequality in this country have increased to levels not seen in a century. Today, the top one percent of earners receive 24% of all income, and half of workers aged 18-64 earn a median annual income of only $17,950. 

Women and people of color are disproportionately represented in low-wage industries. White households on average have 10 times more wealth than Black or Hispanic households. And Black-owned businesses account for only 2% of all small businesses.

The Covid-19 pandemic and recession have exacerbated long standing disparities in economic growth. Black- and Hispanic-owned small businesses have been hit especially hard, and only 12% of those who applied for forgivable, low-interest loans from the federal government’s Paycheck Protection Program received them. 

Small businesses already faced a precarious future. Before the Covid-19 pandemic and recession, approximately 6,000 small businesses in Greater Cincinnati were at risk of closing in the next 10 to 15 years. 

Our solution addresses these issues by training people from underserved and historically marginalized groups to build a resilient, interconnected network of cooperative businesses, creating long-term wealth and family-sustaining jobs. As part of our solution, we help our clients access financing by collaborating with partner organizations. This enables them to break through barriers like restrictive banking that particularly impact communities of color.

We are addressing the following problems: unequal economic growth, lack of access to resources and financing, low wages, job instability, and negative economic impacts from Covid-19. 

Our solution is to help individuals from underserved communities build a mutually-supporting network of family-sustaining jobs. We do this through our cooperative business development courses and transition program, as well as through coaching. Our 3 courses target Black-led teams, refugees, and under-employed individuals. Our transition program helps departing owners sell their businesses to their workers, broadening ownership. Our coaches help cooperative businesses grow and evolve. Our goal is an economy that works for all.

We target people from underserved groups, including people of color, women, and refugees. As mentioned above, of the more than 100 individuals employed in our network, 75% are people of color and 66% are women. 

Through our courses, transition program, and coaching, we provide focused guidance and professional development, helping teams of entrepreneurs develop the skills to successfully run cooperative businesses. 

Through our revolving loan fund, which we operate in collaboration with partners like Seed Commons, we offer access to capital and have deployed $691,000 to our cooperative businesses to date. In 2021, we made a $68,000 loan to enable Sustainergy, a residential energy efficiency firm, to expand into solar panel installation. We also loaned $20,000 to help a start-up, Hopes Fulfilled Farmed 2 Table, open a food truck serving a historically Black community in Cincinnati. In addition, we provide ongoing financial education to the cooperative businesses in our network.

We focus on providing business ownership opportunities to people from historically marginalized groups. We target BIPOC communities, as well as women and under-employed individuals. For example, we offer Power in Numbers, a cooperative business development course for Black-led teams of entrepreneurs. One team that emerged formed Queen Mother’s Market, which has started a buyers club and plans to open a grocery store in a food desert. We also offer a second cooperative business development course for refugees. Recent cohorts have been made up of African and Bhutanese refugees. And we have a third course for any under-employed individuals seeking economic empowerment. Of the more than 100 individuals employed in our network, 75% are people of color and 66% are women. Approximately 80 percent are low or moderate income. 

Among the groups we serve, access to capital and knowledge are major challenges, as is lack of business knowledge and skills. Additionally, individuals from these groups tend to have lower credit scores and insufficient capital to secure a traditional loan. They are also less likely to have savings or a backup financial plan. Through our cooperative business development courses, transition program, and coaching, we help them develop the knowledge and skills to successfully run cooperative business. We also offer access to financing.

To understand the needs of communities we serve, we partner with local organizations such as the African American Chamber of Commerce and community leaders. We also recruit staff from these communities. Finally, we regularly survey those who go through our courses and the team members who run our cooperative businesses.

The cooperative model inherently addresses the needs of the communities we serve because individuals in those communities own, control, and benefit from these businesses. As a result, this innovative model leads to dignified, family-sustaining employment that is responsive to communities.

Ohio

Co-op Cincy nurtures a resilient, integrated network of worker-owned businesses in Greater Cincinnati. While our mission includes helping launch small, cooperative businesses, our overall aim is to build and sustain an interconnected network of such businesses. As a result, sustaining small businesses aligns better with our overarching goal. 

We believe all individuals and communities should control their economic destiny, whether by creating a community-owned grocery store in a food desert or running a childcare center that pays family-sustaining wages. By fostering an interconnected network of cooperative, worker-owned businesses, we are helping create the conditions to sustain democratic small businesses and transform our region, building an economy that works for all.

Our immediate outputs are helping launch and sustain cooperative, worker-owned businesses run by BIPOC individuals, women, and the under-employed. Our longer-term outcome is sustaining an integrated network of community-driven businesses that transform our region, developing long-term wealth and an economy that works for all. 

We help launch cooperative businesses through our 3 specialized courses, which serve Black-led teams, refugees, and under-employed individuals. We provide ongoing support to the cooperative businesses that emerge from these courses. For example, we are coaching the 6 Black-led start-ups that emerged from our course focused on Black-led teams: Queen Mother’s Market, a grocery store in a food desert; Hopes Fulfilled Farm 2 Table, a food truck business; A Touch of TLC Home Care, a caregiver service; Body by Bodji, a swimwear business; Our Corner, a grocery store in a historically Black suburb; and Out Club, a club catering to Black LGBTQ customers.

We also create cooperative, worked-owned businesses through our transition program, which enables workers to buy businesses from departing owners. We recently transitioned 2 businesses to worker-ownership: Heritage Hill, an apparel company celebrating Black culture; and Shine Nurture Center, a nature-focused childcare center. We provide ongoing support to all the cooperative businesses in our network through weekly coaching designed to help them meet challenges, grow, and evolve. 

We track income level, gender, and race of the individuals we serve. To monitor our impact, we record the number of individuals trained, the number of cooperative businesses in our network, and the number of workers. For our cooperative businesses, we track training hours and conduct bi-annual surveys to ascertain the development of skills in communication, conflict management, business and financial literacy, and leadership, as well as to determine how quality of life improves. 

Since our founding in 2011, our network has expanded to 14 cooperative, worker-owned businesses employing more than 100 people, of which 75% are people of color and 66% are women. In addition, in recent years, we have educated more than 1,300 individuals annually about the benefits of worker-ownership. We ensure a diverse network by working closely with community members, leaders, and organizations.

Our cooperative network currently serves 14 cooperative businesses ranging from an urban farm to a residential energy-efficiency firm. This network employs 107 people, 75% of which are people of color and 66% of which are women. In the next year, we aim to serve at least 19 cooperative businesses supporting at least 150 people with family-sustaining jobs. In five years, we want to serve at least 45 cooperative businesses employing at least 550 people.

Our Cooperative Business Network Initiative helps individuals build dignified, family-sustaining employment through cooperative businesses they operate and manage themselves. In particular, we strive to economically empower individuals who come from historically disadvantaged groups, such as women, immigrants, and people of color. By broadening ownership, we want to foster social and economic justice and transform Greater Cincinnati, building an economy that works for all.

We serve individuals in Greater Cincinnati who come from underserved and historically marginalized groups, including the Black community, women, immigrants, people of color, and low-income communities. Our cooperative business development courses and transition program were designed specifically to serve these groups. For example, to support more Black entrepreneurs, we launched a cooperative business development course focused on Black-led teams. 

Our organizational strategy is guided by our stakeholders. This group includes staff members; board members; community members, leaders, and organizations; educational partners; government officials; faith leaders; labor leaders; financial partners; and economic development professionals. For example, we work with community organizations such as the local African American Chamber of Commerce to better serve the Black community. We also collaborate with Xavier University to offer a cooperative business management certificate. And we partner with Seed Commons, a national financial cooperative, to help the cooperative businesses in our network access financing.

The cooperative model inherently creates businesses that are community- and place-based because individuals in the communities own, control, and benefit from these businesses. As a result, this innovative model leads to dignified, family-sustaining employment that is deeply responsive to communities and informed by local contexts.

To maximize our impact, we work closely with a wide range of stakeholders, including community members and leaders. For example, to refine our cooperative business development courses, we seek input and feedback from economic development professionals, cooperative business specialists, and participants. To conduct outreach and recruit participants for our cooperative business development courses, we work with community organizations, government officials, and faith leaders, among others. To ensure our work is place-based and informed by the communities we serve, we have recruited staff members, board members, and Advisory Board members with deep ties to local communities. Of our staff members, 7 of 8 are from Greater Cincinnati or have long standing connections to the region, while all of our Board Members and Advisory Board Members are from Greater Cincinnati or have long standing connections to the region.

We build trust by cultivating relationships with community members, leaders, and organizations and by serving diverse clients. For example, we collaborate with government, faith, and labor leaders. We also maintain relationships with professionals and organizations that serve small business owners, including chambers of commerce, incubators, economic development professionals, accountants, lawyers, business brokers, and marketers. We conduct individual and community meetings to engage key communities, serve them effectively, and build businesses responsive to their needs. We also rely on a diverse Advisory Board to engage local communities.   

We conduct outreach about our activities through 1-on-1 and group meetings, phone calls, personal emails, social media posts, advertisements, regular website content, and a regular newsletter. We have found personal outreach tends to be more effective in recruiting teams of entrepreneurs, while communicating with written materials or media is better at increasing awareness. Word-of-mouth also helps us connect with community members and aspiring entrepreneurs.

Our aim is to create a fundamental shift in the economy of Greater Cincinnati—a shift that builds family-sustaining jobs and nurtures businesses accountable to communities. In particular, we seek to nurture cooperative, worked-owned businesses run by racially-diverse teams and women. 

Our cooperative network currently serves 14 cooperative businesses ranging from an urban farm to a residential energy-efficiency firm. This network employs 107 people, 75% of which are people of color and 66% of which are women. To date, we have helped our cooperative businesses access $691,000 in loans. In the next year, we aim to serve at least 19 cooperative businesses supporting at least 150 people with family sustaining jobs. By then, we plan to have helped our cooperative businesses access at least $1 million in loans. In five years, we want to serve at least 45 businesses employing at least 550 people. By then, we hope to have helped our cooperative businesses access at least $10 million in loans and equity.

We will achieve these goals by offering cooperative business development courses, including Power in Numbers, which is specifically designed to support Black-led teams of entrepreneurs; transitioning traditional businesses to worker-ownership; offering ongoing coaching and access to financing through our partners; and nurturing a mutually-supporting network of interconnected cooperative businesses.

Our team draws on a deep well of relevant experience while also having direct connections to the communities we serve in Greater Cincinnati. 

Kristen Barker, our Executive Director, helps teach all our cooperative business development courses. She has done groundbreaking work adopting the cooperative model. Previously she worked for 12 years fostering partnerships between people of faith, union members, and diverse community members.

Ellen Vera, who oversees our cooperative business organizing, serves as a cooperative business coach and helps transition traditional businesses to the cooperative model. Previously she organized people from diverse backgrounds to improve their workplaces for more than a decade.

Cynthia Pinchback-Hines, our Racial Justice Educator and Co-op Developer, serves as a cooperative business coach and teaches our cooperative business development course for Black-led teams. Pinchback-Hines has deep ties to Greater Cincinnati as a community activist, educator, organizational development consultant, diversity leader, and entrepreneur. 

Paloma Correa, a cooperative business coach, has years of experience building cooperative organizations in her home country of Chile, and works with Spanish-speaking immigrants. 

Angelica Kollie, a cooperative business coach, has local experience in business management, marketing, and sales. 

Christopher Bennett, formerly with local company Procter & Gamble, helps manage our transition program. He is an entrepreneur focused on creating transformational wealth. 

Mona M. Jenkins coordinates with community members to address food insecurity. She has a background addressing issues related to health, gender, housing, and education. 

Clancy McGilligan, who supports our communications efforts, has a varied background working with stakeholders, including as a journalist.

One of the key barriers we have faced is inadequate financial support. With greater funding, we can scale our activities and help nurture a larger network of cooperative businesses run by racially diverse and women-led teams. We can add value by offering more cooperative business development courses, supporting additional transitions to worker-ownership, expanding our coaching services, and increasing access to financing. Through our Cooperative Business Network Initiative, we will create a growing web of family-sustaining jobs, build long-term wealth, and foster social and economic justice. This will help us have a transformative impact in Greater Cincinnati, building an economy that works for all.

Human Relations: 

We need help recruiting the right people for our cooperative business development courses and connecting our cooperative businesses to the right workers and customers. We also need help finding high-quality staff to help us develop successful cooperative businesses. 

Financial:

We need help raising capital for early stage start-ups, increasing our impact, and ensuring long-term sustainability. 

Public Relations:

We need help promoting the cooperative business model and helping people understand that this model is feasible and how it differs from the traditional business model.

We would like to partner with long-term funders, including the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the charitable arm of Google, and the Facebook Community Fund. We also hope to collaborate with thought partners who can help us refine our model and become more sustainable. Finally, we would like to deepen our partnerships with business brokers, accountants, and economic development professionals to promote the cooperative business model and transition more traditional businesses to this model.