In the Part 1 blog post, we talked about the various definitions of cooperatives and the structural, operational and philosophical components of a cooperative business. This blog will talk about the different types of cooperatives, based on the needs of the members when the entity is formed. Cooperatives can be created that are tailor-made for …
Governance and Shared Ownership
Gallun Snow – an Employee Ownership Conversion Success Story
Gallun Snow – an Employee Ownership Conversion Success Story Gallun Snow Associates, Inc. is a professional commercial design firm located in Denver, Colorado. In 2019, the four owners contacted Jason Wiener PC to help them structure and then implement a conversion to an employee-owned company, worker cooperative. Members of JWPC met and discussed options with …
The Wonderful World of Cooperatives, Part 1 – What is a Cooperative?
This is the first part of a multi-part series on cooperatives: what they are, the many different kinds of coops, their possible legal structures, and much more. So stay tuned for future articles about the wonderful world of cooperatives. This first article will look at the “definition” of cooperatives and how that definition is affected …
Overcoming Challenges: Navigating Employee Ownership Conversions
Employee ownership can be a powerful tool for businesses, providing a wealth of benefits such as increased productivity, higher job satisfaction, and improved financial performance. However, transitioning to this model can come with its unique set of challenges. Here, we outline some common hurdles in employee ownership conversions and provide practical strategies to address them. …
Factors for a Successful Business Succession through Worker Ownership
For a few years now, we have been hearing about the approach of a “silver tsunami.” For those unfamiliar with the term, it refers to the demographic phenomenon of an aging population, associated mostly with the large wave of retirement that the baby boomer generation is about to go through. With small businesses employing roughly …
Reflections on Co-op Cincy and Cooperative Professionals Guild Conferences in 2023
I recently attended two cooperative-related professional events in 2023: the Co-op Cincy Union Co-op Symposium and the Cooperative Professionals Guild Conference. As someone relatively new to practicing law in the cooperative movement space, I wanted to share my reflections and thoughts following these very inspiring experiences. By starting as an associate attorney with JWPC in …
Cooperatives: the fulfilment of big tech’s empty promises
I often wonder if DAOs are really different from Big Tech. I believe they can be, but that must be an intentional choice. I hope to tell you how DAOs can be different from Big Tech. Big Tech companies have revolutionized the way we live our lives, from the way we communicate with each other …
The Defiant’s Exclusive Report: Solving the Riddle of the DAO with Colorado’s Cooperative Laws by Jacqueline Radebaugh and Yev Muchnik
Our Partner and Shareholder, Jacqueline Radebaugh and Senior of Counsel, Yev Muchnik recently wrote this Exclusive Report: Solving the Riddle of the DAO with Colorado’s Cooperative Laws for The Defiant in which they reflect their legal analysis and anecdotal experience with DAOs adopting the LCA cooperative legal framework in the United States; as with other …
Patagonia “Exits to Climate”: A Win for Capitalism, But a Mixed Bag for Stakeholder Governance
I, like most, was delighted to read the news that Patagonia’s shareholders decided to give away ownership of the company to benefit the climate and not private equity, a strategic buyer, or public capital markets. We’ve written extensively on mechanisms for mission protection in corporate entities. It appears that the Chouinard family, which owned …
Patrons, Patronizing, Patronage Dividend
These are all terms used in the cooperative business community and sometimes their meanings are unclear or jumbled. This blog will discuss the definitions of these terms with examples of how they are used by different types of cooperatives. A patron patronizes a cooperative and receives a patronage dividend at the end of the year. …
