Tuesday, March 5th at Noon ET (virtual)
On Tuesday, March 5th at Noon ET, we launched a new report titled, “Worker Ownership and Cooperative Enterprise in Appalachia’s New Energy Economy.”
Cooperative businesses often form where markets are tough or failing. The cooperative organization offers financial benefits from internal efficiency, stability, and supportive relationships with workers, communities and other businesses.
Appalachia has a history of agricultural and electric cooperatives and is home to firms with worker ownership and participative management and/or networks of companies that share business services, like marketing or back office administration. With the rapid development of the new energy economy, new sources of capital and technical assistance are available to support cooperative enterprises (co-ops).
The report provides background on co-operative business enterprises in Appalachia and elsewhere and focuses on strategies to develop cooperative structures in the new energy economy in the region.
Speakers included:
- Wendy Patton– Research Director, ReImagine Appalachia
- Chris Cooper– Director, Ohio Employee Ownership Center of Kent State University
- Kristen Barker– President and Co-Founder, Coop Cincy and Synergy
- Christina Clamp– Principal, CAC Advisors, LLC & Principal Investigator
Presentations:
Resources shared during webinar:
- Website for the Ohio Employee Ownership Center
- A great intro book on the history of co-op organizing in the U.S.: “For All the People: Uncovering the Hidden History of Cooperation, Cooperative Movements, and Communalism in America” by John Curl