source: Cleveland Owns
This August, in partnership with our allies at Co-op Cincy and Co-op Dayton, Cleveland Owns is launching the next version of Co-op U, our 14-week co-op incubator for groups looking to launch worker-owned businesses.
Please find more information at this application form!
Do you have a team and idea for a worker-owned cooperative business you’re looking to turn into reality? If so we encourage you to apply to join this state-wide cohort with sponsorship from Cleveland Owns.
This past spring we ran Co-op U for the first time. People’s Plumbing, a new plumbing co-op in Cleveland participated. One of their founding worker-owners, Emma Folkerts, had this to say about their experience with the program:
“I highly recommend participating in the course! Before Co-op U, People’s Plumbing worked a few jobs, but we struggled to find work and we were overwhelmed with everything we needed to do to start our co-op. As part of Co-op U, we conducted interviews and did financial modeling.
"Now we apply the skills and knowledge that we learned through Co-op U every day. And we built connections because of Cleveland Owns. We can now cover our expenses and pay ourselves each month, and we plan to buy a van and hire another plumber in the upcoming months. We would not be where we are today without Co-Op U and Cleveland Owns!"
We are excited for other Cleveland co-ops to start down the same path.
Cleveland Owns is an economic democracy incubator that builds cooperative businesses and leads campaigns for community control of resources. We know that in racial capitalism, ownership matters, so we're organizing multiracial, grassroots cooperatives that enable member owners to build wealth and power. We're working towards a Cleveland owned by its residents.
