- Why organize cooperatives?

A cooperative creates opportunities to share skills and resources and enables people to improve their lives in ways they couldn't on their own. Co-ops promote democratic decision-making based on the principle of one-person, one-vote. Co-ops are also committed to equitable pay and profit distribution. Cooperatives aren't for everyone, but they can make a big difference in the lives of people who want to work together for change.

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- What criteria do you use to start a business?

WAGES has developed a set of criteria to use in assessing business enterprises before we organize a group of women to form a new cooperative. The business should provide a reasonable number of women with a stable and decent income after a two year period, require minimal investment of time on their part (not more than 100 hours of vocational training), be accessible financially to them (under $100,000 in capitalization requirements), and not harm the environment.

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- How do you teach women business skills?

WAGES has found the key to a successful business cooperative is a strong educational program, which balances business skills with cooperative communication and practice in democratic decision-making. Prior to start-up, our cooperative education classes are scheduled five to ten hours a week over a several month period.

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- Are the cooperatives you help form self-sufficient?

WAGES provides strong start-up support for three to four years, after which our cooperatives are self-sufficient and operate independently. Each cooperative we form is legally separate from WAGES from the time the owners sign their loan, and complete their legal operating agreement. WAGES provides education, management services and technical assistance through a contract of association, which is signed by each cooperative member.

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- How are the cooperatives financed?

From the outset of our training program, WAGES encourages the future business owners to begin fundraising (from garage and food sales) to decrease the size of their loan. In addition, each member pays a small membershiop fee to join the cooperative ($400 over time). Finally, each cooperative takes out a small business loan (typically $15,000-$25,000) from Lenders for Community Development, a consortium of community development banks in San Jose.

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- Who else develops cooperative businesses within low-income communities?

WAGES is among a small handful of worker cooperative development organizations in the U.S. including Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute (home healthcare) in New York; Childspace Cooperative Development Inc. (childcare) in Philadelphia; and the ICA Group in Boston. Several university-based centers are also committed to employee-ownership and to the development and study of worker, producer and consumer cooperatives such as the Ohio Employee Ownership Center.

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