The following organizations and websites provide information and support to cooperatives and employee-owned companies and to interested individuals.
- Association of Arizmendi Cooperatives Oakland, California
AAC is a cooperative of five member businesses: four co-op bakeries and a development and support collective. Members share a common mission, ongoing accounting, legal, educational and support services, and support the development of new member co-ops by the Association. www.arizmendi.coop/resources is an excellent general resource on co-operatives.
- ICA Group Brookline Massachusetts
A national not-for-profit organization that seeks to create and save jobs through the development and strengthening of employee-owned cooperatives and community-based projects. ICA also runs a loan fund called Local Enterprise Assistance Fund or LEAF.
- International Cooperative Alliance Geneva, Switzerland and around the world (in Spanish).
ICA is an independent, non-governmental association which unites, represents and serves co-operatives worldwide. Founded in 1895, ICA has 223 member organisations from 85 countries active in all sectors of the economy. Together these co-operatives represent more than 800 million individuals worldwide.
- Mondragon Cooperative Corporation. One of the world's largest and most successful worker cooperative networks located in the Basque Region.
- National Center for Employee Ownership Oakland, California
A nonprofit membership organization providing information on employee ownership to members and non-members alike. Members include companies, professional practitioners, unions, government officials, academics, and other interested individuals. www.nceo.org/library/verysmall.html describes different forms of employee ownership for very small companies (fewer than 20 people).
- National Cooperative Bank and NCB Capital Impact Washington, DC with several regional offices
A national bank that provides financial and related services, especially to housing and food cooperatives. NCB Capital Impact is involved in cooperative expansion and economic development in specific sectors. www.ncbcapitalimpact.org/default.aspx?id=124 is an overview of co-ops that includes a brief step-by-step guide to starting a cooperative.
A national cooperative trade association and foundation serving cooperatives in all sectors of the economy.
- National Society of Accountants for Cooperatives Dayton, Ohio
A professional society comprised of approximately 2,000 individual members actively involved with the financial management and planning of cooperative business. Members primarily serve agricultural and consumer cooperatives but have resources relevant to worker co-ops as well.
- Network of Bay Area Worker Cooperatives (NOBAWC) Oakland, California
A grassroots organization of democratic workplaces dedicated to building workplace democracy in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. The NoBAWC Resource Library is available, free of charge, to NoBAWC members and those doing research on democratic workplaces. The Library consists of organizational materials from NoBAWC workplaces, publications, magazine/newspaper articles and videos related to workplace democracy.
- Ohio Employee Ownership Center Kent, Ohio
A non-profit, university-based program that provides outreach, information, and preliminary technical assistance to Ohio employees and business owners interested in exploring employee ownership. OEOC does research on employee ownership, runs Ohio's Employee-Owned Network, and is developing a cluster of green cooperative businesses in Cleveland.
- PHI Bronx, New York
PHI works to improve the lives of people who need home or residential care—by improving the lives of the workers who provide that care. PHI is a sister organization to Cooperative Home Care Associates (CHCA) and provides training and technical assistance to CHCA and other homecare companies to create quality jobs. PHI also works on health care policy.
- United States Federation of Worker Cooperatives / Democracy at Work Institute San Francisco, California
A national grassroots membership organization of and for worker cooperatives, democratic workplaces, and organizations that support the growth and development of worker cooperatives. As part of the Federation, the Democracy at Work Institute promotes the worker cooperative model by sharing skills among existing cooperatives, providing practical support in the form of training resources and referrals to those interested in starting worker cooperatives, and educating the public about the need for and benefits of worker-ownership and workplace democracy. www.usworker.coop/howtos/startups has great resources for starting a worker co-op, including two comprehensive guides in PDF form.
- University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives Madison, Wisconsin
Does research and provides consulting for cooperatives in a range of industries and forms, especially related to agricultural cooperatives. Maintains a listserve for cooperators from all sectors and links to various resources on its website. www.uwcc.wisc.edu/info/i_pages/topic.html provides links to cooperative resources by topic.
To learn about the three largest worker-owned cooperatives in the U.S., visit their websites:
Cooperative Home Care Associates
Equal Exchange
Rainbow Grocery Cooperative