The Cooperators: Podcasting about the Cooperative Movement

The Cooperators Podcast Episode 25 Michael Peck on Worker Co-ops

by Robert McGarvey There are maybe 400 worker owned co-ops in the US today.  How many will there be 10 years from now? Ask Michael Peck [http://www.mapagroup.net/our-team/michael-peck/], a founder of 1worker1vote [http://1worker1vote.org/], and he says there will be four million. That’s no typo.  He added, “I really believe we are at a tipping point.” Worker co-ops now are burning brightest in the constellation of cooperative initiatives.  There is vastly more enthusiasm and energy around worker co-ops than any other kind.  This year perhaps two or three new credit unions will be chartered.  There will be hundreds of times more new worker co-ops. Peck however is no newcomer to worker co-operatives. He has been promoting them for at least a quarter century and he has long had a tie to Mondragon, the immensely successful Basque co-op that in fact is a global business. Peck accordingly sees immense potential for Mondragon-style co-ops to sprout in the US. A key, in his mind, is a cooperative ecosystem.  A stand alone co-op has tough going.  When a new co-op is surrounded by like mined people and businesses it’s just much more likely to prosper, says Peck. He works to create that ecosystem.  For instance: he is very optimistic about the role labor unions can play in helping to develop new worker co-ops and that could be a win-win for unions which of course have suffered dramatic drops in membership and clout in the past quarter-century.  But just maybe a focus on starting worker co-ops may produce a brighter outlook for unions. By Peck’s count maybe 10% of US workers have an ownership stake in where they work. But when workers are also owners they work harder and smarter. “Workplace democracy is possible for everybody,” says Peck. Listen in to hear the past, present and possible future of worker co-ops. Fyi: The Cooperators Podcast has often focused on worker co-ops. Past episode include Esteban Kell [https://mcgarveyscooperators.blogspot.com/2019/03/the-cooperators-podcast-episode-4.html]y,  Melissa Hoover [http://p/], Frank Shipper [https://mcgarveyscooperators.blogspot.com/2019/03/the-cooperators-podcast-episode-7-frank.html], and Alex Stone [https://mcgarveyscooperators.blogspot.com/2019/04/the-cooperators-podcast-episode-8-alex.html]. Peck in the podcast mentioned the Cincinnati Union Co-op Initiative [https://www.cincinnatiunioncoop.org/union-cooperative-business-model]. Click the link to learn more. Also mentioned is a Barron’s piece on the good immigrants do for the US. Read it here [https://www.barrons.com/articles/welcome-immigrants-the-u-s-really-needs-you-1532708805]. Listen to the Peck podcast here. [https://drive.google.com/open?id=1RFh90UtuP-fYgJj_cNomtQHImYFpOH-G]

The Cooperators Episode 26 Special Edition WOCCU's Mike Edwards on International Trends

This podcast initially appeared the CU 2.0 Podcast series. [https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2728743621858833550#allposts] It appears here as a for instance of a community coming together and creating a cooperative to meet local needs. Quick now, what country has the highest participation in credit unions? Say the US and you are wong. According to Mike Edwards, senior vice president for advocacy at the World Council of Credit Unions, it’s Ireland, north and south, where 70% belong. In this podcast he tells why that participation is so high. He also tells why many regulatory matters in the US in fact originate overseas – risk based capital, Bank Secrecy Act requirements, AML, and more got their start overseas and that is why Edwards spends much of his time monitoring and attempting to influence regulations overseas. What happens in Basel does not stay in Basel.  It may and probably will wind up in the US. Listen in to this informative podcast.

The Cooperators Podcast Special Edition Maine Harvest Credit Union

Update: Maine Harvest now officially [https://www.mainebiz.biz/article/maine-harvest-credit-union-states-first-to-focus-on-farmers-gets-official-go] a new [https://www.centralmaine.com/2019/08/22/maine-credit-union-for-food-producers-receives-federal-charter/] credit union. Hard work makes miracles happen. This podcast initially appeared the CU 2.0 Podcast series. [https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2728743621858833550#allposts] It appears here as a for instance of a community coming together and creating a cooperative to meet local needs. *** It has taken some years but finally Maine Harvest may be in the final lap [https://www.pressherald.com/2018/10/15/proposed-maine-credit-union-for-food-industry-reaches-2-4m-fundraising-goal/] before gaining an official credit union charter.  That’s because it’s met its fundraising goal, $2.4 million, with last monies ponied up by the Maine Credit Union League and what’s remarkable is that just about the whole credit union movement in the state has supported formation of this novel credit union. So, too, do the states two U.S. Senators and two House members. Maybe 30 credit unions have been chartered by NCUA in the past decade. So this is a big deal. We first covered the Maine Harvest story in 2015 [https://www.cutimes.com/2015/01/12/harvesting-a-new-maine-credit-union-for-farmers/]. We picked it up again in 2017. [https://www.cuinsight.com/battle-new-credit-union-charters.html] And in 2019 we may be covering the official opening. What’s special about Maine Harvest is that it intends to follow a  specific, narrow business plan where it makes loans to small farmers [https://thecounty.me/2018/10/16/news/business-news/aspiring-maine-credit-union-wants-to-lend-exclusively-to-farms-food-producers/] – for land purchase, equipment purchase, and similar. No checking. In fact no cash in the till. No other institutions crave that loan business. But small farming is seen as very important to Maine’s future. [http://www.mainebiz.biz/article/20181016/NEWS01/181019959/first-ever-credit-union-devoted-to-farmers-and-food-producers-achieves-funding-goal] Also essential to the business plan is that essentially all the back office will be provided by Synergent [https://www.synergentcorp.com/], a subsidiary of the Maine League. That lets the start up focus on finding borrowers and making sound loans. Why do many credit unions fail? They don’t serve a clear need. This one knows its need and has a plan for filling it. Other states would do well to look into similar efforts.

The Cooperators Podcast Episode 24 Dennis Johnson on Senior Housing Co-Ops

by Robert McGarvey Co-op housing: a better way for seniors?  Where to house the ever expanding numbers of American seniors? Ask Dennis Johnson, president of the Senior Cooperative Foundation [http://seniorcoops.org/] in Minnesota, where seniors control their housing destiny. There are many such co-ops in Minnesota and Iowa and a handful more states, typically in the upper midwest. Why isn’t this housing popular elsewhere? Johnson tells why in this podcast. The guiding principles [http://seniorcoops.org/guidingprinciples/] behind senior co-ops spell out what make them different, special.  Such as: these co-ops “put the well-being of the members above other considerations.” As you listen to this podcast, dream about how your community would if it had senior housing co-ops. Then take it to the next step, action. Listen here [https://drive.google.com/open?id=1FGvkCQ31McqjRrc1gtY5jtPDEUCWwqoP] [https://images-blogger-opensocial.googleusercontent.com/gadgets/proxy?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mcgarvey.net%2Fnewsite%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2019%2F01%2FMy-Post-3-1024x1024.jpg&container=blogger&gadget=a&rewriteMime=image%2F*] Part 1 of our housing co-op series is here, student housing [https://mcgarveyscooperators.blogspot.com/2019/08/the-cooperators-podcast-episode-23-brel.html].

NASCO's Brel Hutton Okpalaeke on Students and Co-Ops

Put Brel Hutton-Okpalaeke [https://www.nasco.coop/staff-and-board] in your contacts if you are a college student searching for affordable housing. That’s because he is the director of development services at NASCO [https://www.nasco.coop/who-we-are],  North American Students of Cooperation, where the primary focus is on cooperative housing, especially for students. Now is the perfect time for NASCO – colleges have been raising student housing and board fees at a brisk pace and, unbeknownst to most, schools run those functions as profit centers. They are not usually loss leaders.  What’s more, schools know that while all eyes are on tuition increases – jumps in prices for room and board frequently are under the radar. Enter co-op housing where, frequently, students put in work requirements and an upshot is that savings over university housing and board charges can be substantial. The downside? It takes a number of years to form a new student housing co-op. Schools increasingly are hostile to such co-ops (they want the revenues!). And many cities and towns are downright hostile towards housing options for significant numbers of unrelated adults. Add in difficulties in securing financing to pay acquire new housing. That’s why NASCO is crucial. It helps students navigate these difficult, churning waters. And know there are real plusses to co-op housing for students.  The format teaches how to function in a democracy and, for many, co-op housing is an introduction to cooperatives in general. A few years in a co-op house can lead to credit union membership, membership in food co-op, and maybe even membership in a worker owned cooperative business. [https://images-blogger-opensocial.googleusercontent.com/gadgets/proxy?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mcgarvey.net%2Fnewsite%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2019%2F01%2FMy-Post-3-1024x1024.jpg&container=blogger&gadget=a&rewriteMime=image%2F*]