You're invited to a House Party for Wellspring Co-op Corporation co-hosted by Mary Hoyer and Frank Holmquist.
Friday June 1st, from 4:30-6:30, 75 Woodlot Rd., Amherst, MA 01002.
Learn how Wellspring is creating jobs and wealth in Springfield neighborhoods!
A lot is happening at Wellspring with three functioning worker co-ops including Wellspring Harvest, which is growing local, nutritious greens at its new commercial greenhouse in the Indian Orchard neighborhood of Springfield.
We hope you can join us to hear more about all that Wellspring is doing in Springfield and to meet some of the worker-owners. We’d love to see you there Friday, June 1st!
Mary Hoyer, Wellspring Treasurer
Fred Rose & Emily Kawano, Wellspring Co-Directors
Kristan Bakker and Jenny Ladd, Wellspring Development Committee Co-Chairs
Cooperation Jackson - Kali Akuno
April 27, 2018, 6:00-8:00 pm, Mahar Auditorium, UMass, Amherst
In case you aren't familiar with Kali and the work of Cooperation Jackson, here is a link to an edited volume, Jackson Rising
Join us for a public talk with activist, scholar, and theorist Kali Akuno of Cooperation Jackson, co-author/editor of Jackson Rising: The Struggle for Economic Democracy & Black Self-Determination in Jackson, Mississippi.
Solidarity Economies, Social Movements, and Social Justice
"Cooperation Jackson is an emerging vehicle for sustainable community development, economic democracy, and community ownership.
Our vision is to develop a cooperative network based in Jackson, Mississippi that will consist of four interconnected and interdependent institutions: an emerging federation of local worker cooperatives, a developing cooperative incubator, a cooperative education and training center (the Lumumba Center for Economic Democracy and Development), and a cooperative bank or financial institution.
Cooperation Jackson’s basic theory of change is centered on the position that organizing and empowering the structurally under and unemployed sectors of the working class, particularly from Black and Latino communities, to build worker organized and owned cooperatives will be a catalyst for the democratization of our economy and society overall.
Cooperation Jackson believes that we can replace the current socio-economic system of exploitation, exclusion and the destruction of the environment with a proven democratic alternative. An alternative built on equity, cooperation, worker democracy, and environmental sustainability to provide meaningful living wage jobs, reduce racial inequities, and build community wealth. It is our position and experience, that when marginalized and excluded workers and communities are organized in democratic organizations and social movements they become a force capable of making transformative social advances."
Organized by the Department of Anthropology and the U.S. Solidarity Economy Network Co-sponsored by UMass campus departments and community organizations: Center for Education Policy & Advocacy (CEPA), Civic Engagement and Service Learning (CESL), Hampshire Franklin Central Labor Council, New Economy Coalition, Neighbor to Neighbor, The Resistance Center for Peace and Justice, School of Public Policy, Social Thought and Political Economy (STPEC), Sustainable Community Development, UMass Alliance for Community Transformation (UACT), UMass Labor Center, UMass Libraries Sustainability Fund, UMass Dept of Economics, Wellspring Cooperative
Wellspring Harvest Community Meeting
April 18, 2018- 6:00 pm
Indian Orchard Library, 44 Oak St, Springfield, MA 01151 (Map)
Announcing our first meeting of the Wellspring Harvest Community group! We want input from our neighbors and friends to help make Indian Orchard even more beautiful. We have thoughts of a community garden and other things that might enhance our lives here in the Orchard.
Please come out on the 3rd Wednesday of the month to share your ideas and thoughts. We need you to make this a success.
Bring the kids! Light refreshments will be available.
For more information: Zaida Govan 413-301-2533
Worker Co-op Boot Camp - March 1-May 31, 2018
Springfield Technical Community College, Thursdays, 6:00-9:00pm
Are you interested in co-owning your own business? Join the worker co-operative wave that is sweeping the country.
Come learn about what co-operatives are, why they are good for workers, the local economy, and communities.
Spaces are limited for the Co-op tour. Please register with the button below.
Co-op Conversions:
A Strategy to Save Jobs and Build Economic Democracy
Tuesday, September 26, 2017
5:00-5:30 Light refreshments and networking 5:30-7:30 Panel & Discussion
Venue: PVPC, 60 Congress St, Springfield, MA 01104-3419
Come hear about the potential of converting conventional businesses into worker co-ops.
Panel:
Camille Kerr, ICA Group, lawyer, business consultant, and advocate for various forms of employee ownership.
Rep. Paul W. Mark, sponsor of the MA Office for Employee Involvement & Ownership bill
Case studies: Annie Winkler, Real Pickles and Tom Ewing, Ewing Controls, two local businesses that have gone through a conversion process.
Why convert a conventional business to an employee owned enterprise?
Save businesses and jobs
Build community assets - workers profit as the business does
Promote economic democracy - giving workers a voice in running the business
Owners can access tax incentives for selling their business to workers
A strategy to address the coming "silver tsunami" of small business owners from the boomer generation who are approaching retirement - many without a succession plan.
**********************
Co-sponsored by the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission and the Worker Cooperative Boot Camp project - a workforce training program offered through Springfield Technical Community College, in partnership with Wellspring Cooperative, Arise for Social Justice, United Food & Commercial Workers 1459, YWCA, and the Association of Black and Business Professionals.
Lunch & Learn: Play the game of Co-opoly
Wednesday, August 16, 2017 11:45 Registration and food 12-1:00 Co-opoly
Scibelli Enterprise Center, Teleconference room 1 Federal St., Springfield, MA (Map)
Take a break, join us for lunch, and play the game of Co-opoly, led by game creator Andrew Stachiw. Players discover the unique benefits and challenges of the cooperative world – as well as the skills needed to participate in a co-op!
Sponsored by the Worker Cooperative Boot Camp project - a workforce training program offered through Springfield Technical Community College, in partnership with Wellspring Cooperative, Arise for Social Justice, United Food & Commercial Workers 1459, YWCA, and the Association of Black and Business Professionals.
Lunch & Learn: Meet Pioneer Valley's Worker Co-ops where workers own their own business
Wednesday, June 28, 2017 11:45 Registration and food 12-1:00 Panel and discussion
Scibelli Enterprise Center, SEC training room 1 Federal St., Springfield, MA (Map)
Join us for lunch and meet some of the worker cooperatives in the Pioneer Valley.
Did you know that the Pioneer Valley is one of the most co-op dense regions in the country? Come hear from a few of the local worker cooperatives - where workers own their own business.
Energia, energy efficiency services
Toolbox for Education and Social Action, creating tools and programs for causes
Real Pickles, producers of, well, real pickles
Wellspring Cooperative, building a network of co-ops in Springfield
Sponsored by the Worker Cooperative Boot Camp project - a workforce training program offered through Springfield Technical Community College, in partnership with Wellspring Cooperative, Arise for Social Justice, United Food & Commercial Workers 1459, YWCA, and the Association of Black and Business Professionals.
Wellspring Breaks Ground on Springfield’s First Production Greenhouse:
Celebrate with us at a Press Conference and Reception:
Thursday June 8th, 2017
11am to 12pm— at the greenhouse site (121 Pinevale St)
12pm to 1pm—reception at the Greater New Life Christian Center (1326 Worcester St)
Drawing on this inspiring history, participants will:
Understand the compelling case for using cooperatives in inclusive economic development strategies;
Understand how cooperatives address poverty and the marginalization of communities of color and immigrants;
Understand how cooperatives can bridge divides in the common interest of creating good jobs that are rooted in the community;
Understand how cooperatives create opportunities for business ownership, wealth building and democratic management.
About the Speaker: Jessica Gordon Nembhard is a political economist and Professor of Community Justice and Social Economic Development in the Africana Studies Department at John Jay College, City University of NY. She is also a member of the Grassroots Economic Organizing Collective, the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives, the Eastern Conference for Workplace Democracy, and the US Solidarity Economy Network; and a member of the Leadership Team of Organizing Neighborhood Equity (ONE) DC. She was inducted into the Co-op Hall of Fame in 2016.
This workshop is one of a series of public events about cooperatives that are being organized as part of the Worker Cooperative Boot Camp Project. This Wellspring Cooperative initiative brings together a range of partners to develop a worker co-op certificate program through the Workforce Training program at Springfield Technical Community College. Participants of this certificate program will learn what it takes to work in a cooperative or to start one of their own.
Worker Cooperative Boot Camp Project partners include Arise for Social Justice, Association of Black Business and Professionals, Springfield Technical Community College, Workforce Training Program, United Food & Commercial Workers 1459, Wellspring Cooperative, and YWCA.
Workshop proudly sponsored by Baystate Health and Wellspring Cooperative
Invest In Your Values
Join us for light refreshments and demonstrations of healthy cooking & hydroponics.
Learn about an exciting opportunity to invest in Wellspring Harvest,
an urban hydroponic greenhouse co-operative, creating jobs, worker ownership and
fresh, local produce all year round in Springfield, MA.
When: Wednesday, September 7, 2016 5:30-7:30 PM
Where: Carriage House at the Barney Estate, Forest Park, Springfield, MA 01108
We hope that you will come and learn about an opportunity to invest in Wellspring Harvest, a commercial hydroponic greenhouse and urban agriculture training center in inner city Springfield, MA. This initiative will bring good jobs and healthy food to under-served communities in the city.
Wellspring is conducting a direct public offering. Each share is $1,000 ($5,000 for qualified investors). We are thrilled to report that we just reached our initial goal of $200,000 in four months! Given this success, we are doing a second round to raise an additional $50,000 directly from people who care about the things that this greenhouse and training center will support:
- sustainable urban agriculture - local fresh food production - job creation - worker ownership - wealth building & economic democracy - training about sustainable urban agriculture for students and the local community - a replicable model for community-based urban greenhouse and worker ownership
For more information about Wellspring Harvest and the investment opportunity, please visit our Wellspring Investment Fund page.
Thanks. Hope to see you there!
Host Committee for the Carriage House Event
Patrick Sullivan, Director of Parks and Facilities for City of Springfield
Mark Jeffrey, Sodexo District Manager for Springfield Public Schools
Frank Robinson, Vice President Community Relations, Baystate Health
Glenn Welch, President, Freedom Credit Union
Tom Jenkins, GZA GeoEnvironmental Fred Rose, Co-director, Wellspring Cooperative, Emily Kawano, Co-director, Wellspring Cooperative
Copies of Dr. Nembhard’s book will be available for purchase and signing.
