By Jason Brady, NEROC Cooperative Development Specialist Resident owned communities (ROCs) face internal and external challenges to maintaining affordable housing for their members. When these challenges are political it can take ROC leaders into new territory. To better advocate for
Policy Matters: Main Street Employee Ownership Act Becomes Law!
This week, Sen. Gillibrand’s Main Street Employee Ownership Act become law as part of the National Defense Authorization Act. The law’s passage represents the most significant federal legislation to come out of Congress in two decades to assist small business
Policy Matters: Maine Legislative Advocacy Update
Sponsored by Representative Martin Grohman (I) of Biddeford, LD 1338 was reported out of the Committee on Taxation, “Unanimous Ought to Pass as Amended,” and has broad tri-partisan support. The bill is a very straightforward proposal that can have significant
Two Letters to the Editors in Support of Maine’s LD 1338
In Maine, we need more parks to convert to resident ownership and that’s why I’m encouraging all legislators to support L.D. 1338, An Act to Create and Sustain Jobs through Development of Cooperatives and Employee-owned Businesses. The bill provides straight-forward
Call to Action: Ask Your Representative to Submit Request in Support of RDCG Funding
We have received a very time sensitive request from our friends at National Cooperative Business Alliance (NCBA CLUSA) regarding the preservation of the Rural Cooperative Development Grant (RCDG) funding. NCBA has created this RCDG Cooperative Advocacy Toolkit to make taking action
CDI Staff and Board Publish in Maine Policy Review
Rob Brown, Director of CDI’s Business Ownership Solutions program, recently collaborated with College of the Atlantic professor and CDI Board member Davis Taylor to author an article for the Maine Policy Review. The in-depth, analytical article makes the case for
New Report: Cooperatives Build a Better Maine
The state’s many cooperative and employee owned businesses demonstrate how we can create a foundation for prosperity with equity in Maine’s next economy.
CDI Wins “People’s Choice Award” for Transitions to Worker Ownership
Rob Brown, director of Business Ownership Solutions at CDI, was among ten finalists chosen to do short presentations on their innovative economic and community development ideas at the Friends of Midcoast Maine annual meeting. His presentation showed how converting existing
Why We Must Support Maine’s Cooperative Development Legislation
CDI staff members Rob Brown and Jonah Fertig recently testified before the Maine legislature on the importance of a bill that would improve the state’s support for co-op and employee-owned businesses. Below, Rob shares his thoughts on why this is
Ursula K. Le Guin’s Powerful Speech, And The Need For Artist Cooperatives
We were jazzed to hear of Ursula K. Le Guin’s receiving the National Book Award last night. She has opened millions upon millions of readers’ minds to new ways of thinking about gender, property, race, freedom, and culture with books