CoopZone Tele-Learning Series II: Call IV - Converting Conventional Businesses to Co-operatives

Converting Conventional Businesses to Co-operatives

See also: http://www.coopzone.coop/lfi   

Excerpt:

 PRESENTATION ONE: QUINTIN FOX:

The Canadian Co-op Association (CCA) has been working on a conversion project with focus on rural areas, though of course similar issues apply in urban regions.

The CFIB estimates that there is a risk of 2 million job losses due to lack of family members available to take over businesses.  Many small business owners are reluctant to sell to multi-nationals or other large companies.

The reasons that the project focused on rural areas are:

--there is already significant structural unemployment in those areas; there is social exclusion, out-migration, etc. 

--There has previously been work done in this area, with CWCF having done a research study a few years ago on this, with a focus on worker co-op.

In Quebec, an I&R project was approved (Projet Relais) to create tools to support conversions.  Then CCA, along with other partners such as CWCF, carried out a similar I&R project, to build on the Quebec project, as well as what has happened in the UK.

Several co-ops are in start-up or have started as a result of this CCA project.

There are several different barriers to conversion: 

--Role of traditional advisors:  including credit union advisors.  Many are either ignorant of, or not supportive of conversion to co-op.

--They began to implement a “watch” system to identify businesses undergoing succession.  This has been a challenge.  They came up with a number of tools:  one is a coop-specific conversions website.  They have found the importance of working with local / regional partners. 

In the UK, a rural communities advocate organization identifies trends where services are declining, looks at new models & then seeks to implement.  This will be a recommendation to the Coops Secretariat/ Rural Secretariat.

They have worked with a number of rural businesses & communities; are seeking opportunities to provide training & advice to developers – like today.  They are using the CZ site as a primary resource to get out this information.

 ... Continued in Attachment