The Co-operative Development
Institute
 Northeast
Co-operative Development
Center founded in 1994 by co-op leaders.
 A 501c3 Non-Profit Organization.
 Working across all sectors and industries in
New England and New York.
 Technical assistance, training & education.
 Assembling the resources necessary to
develop successful co-operative
businesses.
www.cdi.coop
CDI’s Mission
… is to build a cooperative economy
through the creation and development of
successful cooperative enterprises and
networks in diverse communities in
Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont,
Connecticut, Maine, Rhode Island and New
York.
www.cdi.coop
What makes it a Cooperative?
“A cooperative is an autonomous association of
persons united voluntarily to meet their common
economic, social and cultural needs and
aspirations through a jointly owned democratically
controlled enterprise.”
www.cdi.coop
Cooperative Principles

Voluntary & Open Membership

Democratic Member Control

Member Economic Participation

Autonomy & Independence

Education, Training & Information

Cooperation Among Co-operatives

Concern for Community
www.cdi.coop
Who gets the benefit?
Executive/Managers
Customers
Employees
investors
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Resident-Owned Communities
(ROCs)
Members Vote on:
The budget
The Bylaws
The Community Rules
The Election of the board
The Board Votes on:
Policies
Contracts for:
-Maintenance
-Staff, lawyer, accountant
-Capital Improvements
www.cdi.coop
ROC USA and CDI
 We
partner with residents to purchase
their land cooperatively
 We engage in a traditional marketpurchase of the community.
 We contract to provide
assistance for the life of
the loan.
www.cdi.coop
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Business Ownership
Solutions
BOS works with business owners to think
through whether conversion to a
cooperative could meet their needs,
and with employees or community
members to execute the co-op
conversion.
Who’s the BOS!?!?
www.cdi.coop
Why BOS?
 97%
of Maine businesses are small
independents
 Nearly
half of those business owners
expect to retire within a decade
 Fewer
than half of those who expect
to retire within 5 years have a
succession plan for their business
www.cdi.coop
Why BOS?
88% of current family business owners
believe someone in the family will continue
to run the business when they retire, but…


Only about 30% survive into the second
generation, and only12% survive into the third
generation
Businesses sold to an outside investor have about
a 50-50 chance of success
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Why BOS?
Well planned employee buyouts
succeed about 80% of the time.
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Why Worker Co-ops?
Top 10 percent of Americans take more than half of
all income earned in this country and own 75
percent of the nation’s wealth.
Last year, income of the top 1 percent rose by 11.2
percent, while the income of the bottom 99%
declined by 0.4 percent.
Over the past 20 years, the top 1 percent's incomes
surged nearly 60 percent, while the incomes of the
bottom 99 percent grew just 5.8 percent.
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In Other Words…
The top 25 hedge fund managers make TWICE
as much as all kindergarten teachers in
America combined.
The $26.7 billion in bonuses handed out to Wall
St. bank executives is enough to more than
double the pay of every single minimum wage
worker in America.
Handful of Walton Family members own
more wealth than the bottom 40% of all
Americans combined.
www.cdi.coop
Raising Wages is good and
important, but…
Democratizing the ownership
of wealth will accomplish
much more!
www.cdi.coop
(Very) Basic Worker Co-op
Structure
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Organizing a Cooperative Steering Committee
For Considering a Business Conversion
The role of the Steering Committee is to
coordinate the learning process for all
employees as they develop and
consider a transition from private to
employee ownership.
www.cdi.coop
Island Employee Cooperative
Deer Isle, Maine
www.cdi.coop
Beginning the Conversion
Consideration Process
Step 1: Organize an All-Employee Meeting
to introduce the idea
Step 2: Employees sign a Commitment of
Interest, choose Steering Committee
Step 3: Organize the Worker Cooperative
Steering Committee
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During the Conversion
Consideration Process
Step 4: Worker Co-ops 201
Step 5: SWOT Analysis, Planning, Articles and
Bylaws, Un-official “Valuation”
Step 6: Present to employees for feedback
Step 7: Negotiate terms for buying the
business
www.cdi.coop
After the Conversion
Consideration Process
Step 8: Employees vote to incorporate, adopt bylaws and agreements
Step 9: Finalize Cooperative Plans
Step 10: Finalize Cooperative Conversion Financing
Step 11: Training and technical support
Step 12: Business knowledge transferred
effectively
www.cdi.coop
Some Challenges
Access
to capital
Cost of member and public
education
Investment in democratic process
Co-ops are only as good as their
members ask them to be.
www.cdi.coop
Some Advantages
 Exist
to meet their members’ needs. Focus
is on service not financial return.
 Local control keeps the business in the
community.
 Money is recirculated in the community.
 Build skills and infrastructure in local
communities.
 Consumers like co-ops.
www.cdi.coop
Policies to Grow
the Cooperative Economy

Fund an Employee Ownership Center or
Cooperative Development Center

Pre-Development Grants

Loan Guarantees

Tax Incentives

Resident Notification for Park Sales

Update Incorporation Laws
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Cooperative Development Institute
www.cdi.coop
Matt Meyer, Housing Program Organizer
New England Resident Owned Communities
617-875-7694 mmeyer@cdi.coop
Rob Brown, Program Director
Business Ownership Solutions
207-233-2987 rbrown@cdi.coop
www.cdi.coop