Co-ops: The Power of Cooperative Enterprise by Annie Hoy

WATCH RECORDING: https://youtu.be/PBu7ZcVVVJc

The cooperative business model is enjoying a global renaissance as an antidote to “business as usual.” Cooperatives fill people’s needs for housing, electricity, food, insurance, financial services, and daycare; in fact, almost any business may be formed as a co-op. What attracts people to cooperation is that co-ops operate on their behalf with honesty, fairness, and transparency. In the United States, 30,000 co-ops provide two million jobs, and one of every four Americans is a member of a cooperative.

This presentation offers a short history of cooperatives and the set of values and principles that drive this global movement, plus a crash course on how to start a new co-op or convert an existing business.

Annie Hoy is currently a Cooperative Development Specialist with the Northwest Co-op Development Center in Olympia, WA serving clients in Oregon. She is retired from a 30-year career in marketing and outreach at Ashland Food Co-op. Hoy moved to Ashland in 1986 to be the first News Director at Jefferson Public Radio. She graduated from the University of Oregon in Eugene with degrees in biology, broadcasting, and art education. She is a native of El Paso, TX.