Running the Numbers on Cooperatives
May 11th, 2009 by terry
Cooperatives meet the pressing problems we face today in a way that the private and non-profit sectors don’t. The University of Wisconsin’s Center for Cooperatives‘ Research on the Economic Impact of Cooperatives revealed startling conclusions:
- 30,000 cooperatives operate 73,000 places of business throughout the United States
- Cooperatives own over $3 trillion in assets
- Cooperatives account for over $654 billion in revenue
- Cooperatives employ over 2 million people
- Cooperatives pay over $75 billion in wages and benefits
- Cooperatives generate over $133.5 billion in value-added income
We’re talking real money here.
Because cooperatives are member owned, operated and governed, they can be created to meet whatever its members want, need and are willing to get behind to make happen. Running a business requires enormous talent and dedication. An effective, robust cooperative could create opportunity for accountants and bookkeepers, grant writers, marketing writers, web and graphic designers, lawyers, managers, IT experts, administrators, people who keep the machinery humming, the floor swept and many others. Because members set the prices and the policies, provided there is sufficient cash flow to cover operations, a cooperative can operate at close to zero profit.
The Marketplace Hasn’t Delivered
In many places, the marketplace has not met the needs of ordinary people for years on end. An obvious failing is the appalling lack of grocery stores in poor neighborhoods, i.e. food deserts. Food in this country is pitiful to begin with. Finding fresh, unprocessed food is literally impossible in some neighborhoods. Products that are most widely available and considered to be food are costly and have few nutrients. In other words the label says food but the contents are mostly chemicals and additives.
An idea that burns in my brain is churches using their vans and kitchens to prepare economical, healthful tasty food and deliver it where people work. This is a better idea than Jimmy John’s, pizza or the “roach coaches”. The operative words are healthful, economical and tasty.
I have imagined this being done with reusable packaging. Drop off lunches to subscribers one day and the next delivery day, drop off another lunch and pick up the rinsed tray or packaging from prior use. This concept needs a lot of talent, including marketers, number crunchers, food service people, delivery people and more. The options for eating healthy, economical food away from home are very limited. The potential market for this concept is broad and deep.
Affordable Housing-a Conundrum
The vexing housing situation is a real life version of Humpty Dumpty. How are we going to put that together again? The answer is a new model. Children living in single family homes face an exponentially higher risk of poverty than children in two parent families. Even two-parent families, where all the adults work are stretched thin. This cuts across all income strata. The foreclosure crisis is affecting the upper income brackets too. We desperately need safe, stable temporary housing where people can park themselves and figure out their next step. Vacant or underutilized buildings could be adapted for use as dormitories or boarding houses.
Gather With Your Friends and Neighbors to Create Solutions
In the middle of this very real crisis, every idea must be considered and evaluated with a beginner’s mind, the Buddhist term that implies a state of openness to new information, uncontaminated by past judgments and prejudices. The best way to brainstorm is to toss all ideas on the table and see which ones hold water.
Although oceans of money has evaporated like glaciers, a lot of money still exists in the world. The cooperative model can be a catalyst to match needs with talent and resources. Brainstorming Ideas lists a few ideas that might work. Contact New Community Vision to get your neighborhood connecting with each other and percolating with ideas that create real solutions to real problems.
