We had such a great time at our Annual Co-op Appreciation Fest on Saturday, August 27! A big thanks to everyone who attended and to our co-ops for participating! It was an inspiring event, and we couldn’t have organized it without such an amazing community of people. 🤩🤩🤩
The annual Fest was an opportunity for people to meet our 14 co-op teams, learn about their products, & connect with other Co-op Cincy supporters. There was music and food.
Want to learn more about our network of co-op businesses? See coopcincy.org/co-ops-overview
Co-op Cincy in the media
New academic study
We’re grateful to be the subject of a new academic study, “Breaking New Ground: Social Movement Theory and the Cincinnati Union Co-ops,” in the Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal.
Big thanks to the author, Ariana R. Levinson! We hope the article helps grow the union co-op movement!
The study is currently behind a paywall, but you can read the abstract here.
Article on city funding published in Nonprofit Quarterly
We were beyond thrilled to receive $100,000 from the City of Cincinnati earlier this year—the very first time we've received funding from the City. The money will directly help us build community wealth and preserve family-sustaining jobs in Cincinnati.
In Nonprofit Quarterly, 3 of our staff members wrote about our multi-year effort to secure funding from the City, which was aided by testimonials from board members, co-op members, staff, and our network of supporters, as well as by support from our friends on the City Council.
We hope the article can help other co-op incubators and nonprofits secure government funding! Read the article.
Program news
Co-op tours continue
We've got more free co-op tours coming up! Dates:
Fri Sep 16 from 9-11 am
Fri Oct 14 from 1-3 pm
2022 launch for Business Legacy Fund
Get ready — we're initiating our 3rd Business Legacy Fund cohort on Sep 15! Register now for our online launch.
The multimillion-dollar Fund helps retiring or departing business owners transition their business to worker-ownership, saving jobs and maintaining legacies while securing fair-market value for their company.
Through the Fund, we finished transitioning 2 businesses to worker-ownership earlier this year, and we're in ongoing discussions with others.
Business Legacy Fund testimonial:
“Co-op Cincy has been very helpful…. They came with a ready-made template.”
— Brandon Z. Hoff, founder of Heritage Hill, which became worker owned in 2022
Other updates
Goodbye to Shontelle
Thanks to Shontelle Johnson for an amazing summer! She interned with us through the Xavier University Summer Service Internship Program.
During her time with us, she gathered testimonials from worker-owners and completed other important work.
Here she is with Kristen Barker, our Executive Director, and Cynthia Pinchback-Hines, our Racial Justice Educator & Co-op Developer, at a final ceremony.
Best of luck, Shontelle, on whatever's next!
Co-op updates
Hopes Fulfilled now has a food truck
Hopes Fulfilled now has a food truck! Check out the website of their subsidiary, Jamerican Eats, which serves traditional Jamaican food.
Hopes Fulfilled will be providing food for our Co-op Appreciation Festival this Saturday.
Massage for the People organizes workshop for massage therapists
Massage for the People has organized their first workshop for massage therapists.
Called Discovering Integrative Craniosacral Therapy, it's scheduled for Friday Sep 23 to Sunday Sep 25 at SHI Integrative Massage School and will be led by Matthew Howe, an NCBTMB-approved provider.
15 spaces are available, and there is a $245 early-bird special through the end of August.
Movement news
The worker co-op model is growing in Spokane, Washington! Spokane Workers Cooperative, a holding company owned by workers that belong to the cooperative, currently has 5 companies under its umbrella. See the article in the Spokane Journal of Business.
$2 million is being invested to support the development of co-op businesses in British Columbia, according to a government press release! “Co-operatives are value-driven organizations that play an important role in our communities, supporting pressing social priorities such as employment, child care and housing,” said Selina Robinson, Minister of Finance. “This investment will help expand their impact.”
In The Nonprofit Quarterly, Geoff Gusoff wrote about how worker-ownership could transform low-wage healthcare: “This model centers frontline workers rather than outside investors and has important benefits in addressing health, economic, and racial inequities.”
Upcoming events
Aug 27 from 4-6 pm: our annual Co-op Appreciation Festival at Our Harvest's urban farm in College Hill (969 W North Bend Rd.), located on the beautiful, historic Bahr Farm. With music and food. Register now.
Sep 9 & 10: Worker Co-op Conference. To learn more, see the conference website.
Sep 15: Business Legacy Fund 2022 online launch. Register now.
Fri Sep 16 from 9-11 am: Co-op Cincy co-op tour. To learn more and sign up, see this questionnaire.
Fri Oct 14 from 1-3 pm: Co-op Cincy co-op tour. To learn more and sign up, see this questionnaire.
