Events

Springfield City Council, Economic Development Committee Meeting

with Wellspring Cooperative

"Inclusive economic development through worker co-ops: the case for supportive policies in Springfield"

Thursday, February 13, 2020, 5:00 pm

Room 200, City Hall, 36 Court St., Springfield, MA

Background documents:

Comparisons of City Policies Supporting Co-ops

Registration link: https://forms.gle/jxQMrVaedyGq9TVQ8

For more information email emilykawano@gmail.com or call 413-461-8203

Wellspring worked with UACT (UMass Alliance for Community Transformation) to organize a Building a Co-op Ecosystem visioning process in Springfield a couple of weeks ago. The session included folks from various sectors that we need to work together to support a cooperative economy. It was really great, very energizing, and the ideas/discussions were captured in a stunning graphic mural which will be unveiled at this event. We hope that folks who participated in the visioning session, as well as anyone interested in joining in the conversation, or getting involved in building a co-op ecosystem will come!

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.

For more details please visit the Co-op Boot Camp page.

Wellspring General Assembly &

Western Mass. Cooperative Economy Festival

Wellspring Harvest Ribbon Cutting

& Co-op Tour

November 15, 2017

We're almost there!

Come and celebrate the completion of the Wellspring Harvest greenhouse, followed by a tour of Wellspring's other worker co-ops.

Wednesday, November 15, 2017

121 Pinevale St. Indian Orchard, Springfield, MA 01151

11:-12:00 Wellspring Harvest Greenhouse ribbon cutting & reception

12-1:00 Tour of Wellspring Upholstery & Old Window Workshop Co-ops

Please let us know if you're coming to the ribbon cutting:

Yes, Count me in for the ribbon cutting

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.

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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

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)

Cooperatives & the African American Struggle

for Justice, Survival and Economic Development

Thursday April 27, 2017

4:45-5:00 pm registration & REFRESHMENTS 5:00-7:00 Workshop

Techspring, 5th floor, 1350 Main Street, Springfield, MA 01103

(Parking validation will be provided)

Copies of Dr. Nembhard’s book will be available for purchase and signing.

Jessica Gordon Nembhard, author of the groundbreaking book, Collective Courage: A History of African-American Economic Thought and Practice, will facilitate an exploration of the rich history of African American economic cooperation and its role in movements for Black Civil Rights and economic equality.

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

(map & directions)

Special guest: Mayor Domenic Sarno

fundraiser

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

Please RSVP to Emily emilykawano@gmail.com or Fred frose@pubpol.umass.edu

WellsprinG Harvest - Community Workshops

Wellspring Harvest hosted three Commmunity Workshops on Urban agricultureCont