Workshop B3: Role of Co-op Developers in Growing the WC Movement:
what is the strategy to move forward together? Facilitated by CoopZone.
Notes by David Daughton
MARTY FROST – Intro: Has worked on all types of co-ops, other than
Housing co-ops. Has worked in all Provinces and two Territories, as well as
in China, Mongolia (research projects).
Marty emphasized the difference between Québec and the Rest Of Canada
(ROC). He prefaced his remarks by stating that his presentation applies
mainly to the ROC.
Most co-op developers are not lawyers, but they need to have a good
understanding of not only the Co-op Act in their own jurisdiction, but also
other Co-op Acts, Securities regulations, Labour laws, Residential tenancy
laws etc.
Most developers are not accountants, and yet they often have to advocate
with financial institutions and professionals.
Marty sees developers as “the unplanned children of a co-op sector that
was not really sure that they wanted us”.
There was minimal linkage with the co-op sector and the role of developers
has been poorly defined. However, integration has been increasing.
The involvement of developers in co-op development has increased the
survival rate for new co-ops from ~40% after 5 years to 63% (conventional
businesses = ~35%).
Developers can assist co-ops to innovate and to adapt. A supportive person
with specialized knowledge and understanding can be very useful in
reducing stress and assisting with growth. Marty noted that he has fielded
many calls from co-ops that were about 5 years old and facing the need for
change.
Marty characterizes himself as a “frustrated scientist” and emphasizes the
importance of adaptation as the role of the developer.
Policy Development is key and the developers often find themselves at the
interface between the public and policy makers.
Programming is another area that developers need to take the lead in. New
co-op start-ups were a key focus of the early years of CWCF so that a critical
mass of worker co-ops could be federated. Developers need to be involved
in designing programs.
Co-op developers have a role in bringing new organizations into the sector
and integrating them into the federations.
Developers need to be utilized. Often, co-op developers are overlooked as
other professionals without co-op experience are brought in.
A new crop of co-op developers needs to be cultivated, both by creating
mentoring and training opportunities and by growing the sector.
“Let your singers sing and your dancers dance”.
Need to articulate One Vision and make that the framework for all of our
strategic planning.
Q: How do you find clients?
A: People tend to call the co-op sector as there is almost no government
support in BC. Promotion tends to be by BCCA and the CU sector. When
there was government promotion ten years ago, there was a significant
upsurge in demand. If people know that the model is available, then they
like it.
Q: Do you work closely with other co-op developers?
A: Devco involves other developers and also works with funders such as
VanCity CU. Devco is a worker co-op that develops worker co-ops.
HAZEL CORCORAN – From the time that CWCF began, the intent was to
have the worker co-op control its own destiny, and the voting structure of
the organization ensures worker-member control.
In the late 1990s, developers were expressing a lot of interest in creating a
network. Also, there was an initiative to create a capital fund that could
facilitate the development process with both small “pre-feasibility” grants
and investment pools. Hazel gave an anecdote about the path that led to
the creation of the “Tenacity Works” pilot project. She also explained the
federal government change that provided the $20M to Quebec (Le
Chantier...) but scrapped the money for the ROC.
Hazel summarized the process that led to the creation of CoopZone by the
CCA & CCCM. CWCF was asked by the Co-ops Secreatariat to manage the
vestiges of CoopZone after it was dropped by CCA/CCCM. The national apex
organizations acquiesced to the change.
CWCF currently manages CZ for its Board and also continues to manage
small technical assistance grants (now funded under the Co-operative
Development Initiative).
Q: What control does CWCF have over CZ?
A: None really, but there is a lot of integration and CWCF only allocates
their small grants to CZ members.
ISABEL FAUBERT MAILLOUX – The Réseau has a double mandate of
providing TAS for new co-ops in the Montreal area and also of acting as a
provincial umbrella group for worker co-ops (other than the Forest co-ops
and the Paramedics).
60% of worker co-ops in the Montreal area have been supported by the
Reseau. They work with about 30 new co-ops every year (from
conventional worker co-ops to worker shareholder co-ops – e.g. resto-bar).
The Réseau has been in operation for 25 years. They do training and they
offer support in four ways: Product; Teamwork; Network; Finance. Isabelle
offers training mainly in Governance and her colleague deals with Financing
and Marketing. The focus is on integrating co-ops with other support
networks, whether economic development organizations or community-
based allies. Isabelle summarized the steps that they follow with each new
start-up (everything from business planning to by-law development). She
reviewed the list of training courses that the Réseau offers.
Worker co-ops form 33% of co-ops in the Montreal area, but only 20% in
Québec as a whole.
Thus, worker co-ops are over-represented in Montreal (17% of worker co-
ops in the Province), yet co-ops in general are under-represented in
comparison to the Province as a whole (only 10% of the Province’s co-ops
are in Montreal).
Promotion is best accomplished by working with Chambers of Commerce
and by “train the trainer” sessions with other economic and CED
organizations.
Discussion: There are two realities in Canada (QC & ROC) yet everyone
wants to work together. In QC there is a need for developers to work in
unity, as the CDRs do not include independent developers. Pascal
specializes in the Agrifood sector, but CDRs tend to snap up the client
groups. There is a possibility of excellent collaboration between the CDRs
and Developers when they do actually work together.
Rebecca noted that the challenges we describe are essentially “quality
problems” as the USA lacks the basic resources that have been developed
in Canada. She noted that there are the beginnings of some tensions
around access to resources in the USA, and she appreciates the lessons that
she is learning from the Canadian example in terms of the need to be
careful to maintain sector unity when moving forward.
There is a danger of tension over funding undermining the intra-sectoral co-
operation.
It was noted that most of the funding for co-op development in Canada is
not actually targeted funding from the government, but rather is sourced
from other programs and funding envelopes.