Thanks to the leadership of Councilperson David Mann’s office, especially Chief of Staff, Ioanna Paraskevopoulos, on January 22, 2019 Cincinnati City Council passed a resolution asking the City administration to conduct a report to “raise awareness of, increase partnerships with, and support worker-owned cooperatives in the City of Cincinnati and encourage small business, entrepreneurs and communities to consider cooperatives an option where appropriate.” Some of the exciting components to be included in the report include:
How cooperatives can be a tool for eliminating economic disparities, and promoting racial equity
Ways the City can support and incentivize co-ops through City procurement.
Ways the City can encourage small businesses and entrepreneurs to consider co-ops as a succession option (ie. selling the business to their workers) or as a governance structure for starting up a new business.
We are extremely encouraged by the City’s interest in cooperatives and are eagerly anticipating the results of the report. CUCI staff will be meeting with City Officials over the coming weeks and months to provide support and resources as to how co-ops can be an effective strategy to build a strong and vibrant local economy. We look forward to providing more updates on these efforts in the near future!
