Meeting our communities' needs through creative cooperative models
CDI's Cooperative Business Services (CBS) Program supports cooperative startups and helps to strengthen existing cooperatives through technical assistance and training.
We use the cooperative model to empower communities to create sustainable jobs and workplaces, and practice collaborative processes that benefit democratic economics at scale. We work with every kind of owner: consumers, workers, residents, farmers, independent businesses and municipalities, and multi-stakeholder cooperatives. Our team brings experience and insight to all aspects of starting and running a cooperatively owned business.
Start-ups
Starting up as a cooperative can start with a great idea and quickly turn into a lot of work and unanswered questions. CBS can provide the tools, techniques, and direct assistance to help groups through the challenges of starting a co-op. We’re also here to help celebrate the wonderful moments and achievements along the way!
Our experienced technical assistants guide startups through the process of inception, design, and launch. We support co-ops in all sectors and industries, and pay special attention to co-ops with a focus on high-impact areas such as agriculture, childcare and manufacturing as well as historically underserved and rural communities. We prioritize our support to groups with a social justice, land justice, and/or environmental justice approach. Co-ops come to us at any stage in the startup process.
Existing Cooperatives
Co-ops have carefully designed systems of governance, management and membership that require care and nurture to be sustainable. CBS provides tools, training, and direct assistance to help existing co-ops reach their goals or solve problems they may face.
We understand that it can be hard for groups to always have time or know how to move forward when faced with challenges after launch or after years of operation. From member re-engagement, to growth and transformation planning , and beyond, we are here to help co-ops sustain the ways they are serving members of their cooperatives and their communities.
Technical Assistance Services
Our services are tailored to each group and may include:
- Diagnostic needs assessment and problem solving
- Feasibility assessment and research
- Business planning
- Membership development
- Organizational development: training, membership drives, strategic planning, conflict management, inclusion and diversity
- Market research and marketing plans
- Financial analysis and set-up of accounting structure and processes
- Designing a fundraising strategy
- Legal structuring and organizational documents (by-laws, Articles of Incorporation)
- Referrals to professional service providers
- Making connections with other cooperatives
- Identifying/ securing grant funds
- Performance evaluation
- Webinars on all aspects of cooperative development
- Constructing a financing package
- Fiscal sponsorship
Process Steps
- Prospective clients fill out a service request form to establish a baseline level of information and help us make a referral to the most relevant resources and staff.
- CDI staff responds with preliminary resources or to schedule an exploratory conversation.
- If requested by the client, CDI staff provide 5-10 hours of pro-bono mentoring including planning, progress tracking and referrals. CDI has a multi-state, multi-sector network of public and private organizations, government agencies, consultants and cooperatives to whom CDI can make referrals and tap for assistance. This capacity allows CDI to engage comprehensively with our client’s cooperative development projects.
- If the client requests more intensive consultation, CDI may formulate a scope of services fee-based proposal to address the need or, if appropriate, CDI can assist the group in applying for funding or conducting fundraising activities to pay for services.
Meet the CBS Team
Katherine Bessey, CBS Program Director
Katherine Bessey has more than 6 years of experience developing cooperative enterprises with a special focus in cooperative food systems and childcare. She is passionate about problem solving, research, and people, positioning her well as a technical support for complex cooperative start-up and transformation projects at CDI. She holds a MA in Sustainable Development and a BA in Mathematics and brings over 10 years of prior experience as a Data and Research Analyst in international development consulting to CDI. Outside of her work with CDI, Katherine loves the outdoors and spending time farming and gardening with her family in Sumner, Maine.
Omar Hassan, Cooperative Developer and Technical Advisor
Omar Hassan works with farmers and community members to develop democratic businesses, assist them in developing cooperatives, and support them as they access local markets. Born in Somalia and raised in Kenya, Omar speaks Maay Maay, Af Maha, and English. He provides translation and interpretation support to Somali farmers throughout New England. He works closely with New Roots Cooperative Farm, an operation owned by Somali Bantu farmers in Lewiston, Maine, the first New American-owned cooperative farm in Maine. He is currently enrolled at the University of Southern Maine where he is pursuing a degree in Social and Behavioral Science with a minor in Sustainable Food Systems. He lives with his wife and two children in Lewiston, Maine.
Chris Lepre, Systems and Resources Specialist
As CDI's Systems and Resources Specialist, Chris creates systems to collect, organize, and analyze CDI's data and increase the efficiency of the organization. Additionally, he helps to curate educational resources for CDI's technical assistance services and its various training programs. Before CDI, Chris worked as a full-time software engineer and held various part-time roles in the service industry. Chris has long been passionate about rectifying systemic racial and socioeconomic inequities and has come to view cooperative economics as an instrumental tool towards that end. Chris has served on the board of his local food co-op, and now serves on the board of the Data Commons Cooperative, working to build digital infrastructure for the global solidarity economy. Outside of his work with co-ops, Chris enjoys gardening, hiking, cooking vegan food, traveling, and reading nonfiction.
