Why cooperative incubation?

✔  Cooperative development is a powerful way to empower vulnerable and marginalized communities. Incubating cooperatives in marginalized communities is a powerful economic development strategy to remove barriers to employment and create jobs for the marginalized people in the community.

✔  Cooperatives need significant capital, but often marginalized communities face substantial barriers to raising capital. By providing a group with assistance in raising capital, more marginalized communities can have better opportunities in participating in an employee-owned business.

✔  On-going support for a new cooperative is important in sustaining a cooperative and building for long-term success. Although the chance of a cooperative surviving during an economic recession is higher than a normal business, ongoing community support for an incubating cooperative can increase the chance of longevity for the cooperative.

✔  The Drivers Cooperative-Colorado is one example. Creating a platform cooperative not only needs significant capital (to develop a usable app, recruit workers, market the service, etc.), but it also takes a long time and substantial educational efforts to build the foundation for a successful cooperative.  ( connect to the page of the Drivers Coop-Colorado ).

The Coop Incubation Process

Here is the standard process of cooperative incubation that RMEOC provides.

Do you have a BIG IDEA to create a community-owned or employee-owned business that will benefit the community entire?

• Share your BIG ideas with us. We are all about creating a more just and equitable economic system that works for the marginalized community. 
• Schedule a Consultation