INVEST IN COOPERATION
Invest in Cooperation
To read about the impact of Cooperatives on the economy click here.
To read about cooperation among cooperatives click here.
To read about one of our cooperative donors Cabot Creamery Cooperative click here.
Co-ops Investing in Co-operation
For many years, the Cooperative Fund of New England (CFNE) has made a practice of holding its board meetings at the workplaces of the co-ops we serve. It’s a way to keep in touch with the community, to learn more about the work of our partners, and to develop new ways of working together to build the co-operative economy. For example, our last meeting was held in the very beautiful and comfortable showroom of the Community Builders Cooperative in Somerville, MA. This successful worker co-op has been providing cabinetry, renovation and design services since 1979 and has recently become an investor in CFNE, sharing their resources with other co-ops through the loan fund.
Another example of this kind of collaboration is the recently launched Cooperative Capital Fund (CCF), a source of patient, equity-like investment for under-capitalized or expanding worker co-ops and other co-operatives. CCF grew out of CFNE’s dialogue with co-op leaders to assess the evolving financial needs of the movement. When CFNE needed to raise matching funds for a grant that would help develop this new fund, co-ops from across the region—and across sectors—made contributions both large and small. For example, early supporters included worker co-ops such as Equal Exchange and South Mountain Company, food co-ops such as Willimantic Food Co-op (CT), Middlebury Food Co-op (VT) and Berkshire Food Co-op (MA), and farmer co-ops such as Cabot Creamery Co-operative, a dairy co-op founded in 1919. To download a profile of Cabot, visit: click here.
Now that CCF has been successfully launched, co-ops are becoming investors, making their resources available for a new wave of co-operative development. If your co-op has resources to invest, CFNE and CCF are options that help put the principle of “Cooperation among Cooperatives” into action by:
Putting your resources to work helping people help themselves through co-operation.
Enabling you to receive a return without compromising your values.
Reducing risk through diversification of investment across many projects.
Building the co-operative economy across all co-op sectors and industries.
Entrusting your resources to an organization with a 30-year record of integrity, success, and impact.
