Alex, I think I’ve mentioned before how much IndyHall has influenced the creation of our space. Without you sharing what y'all put together there I’d probably still be waiting for someone else to have built a space. You should come hang out for a bit with Jay Tennier and me and I’ll show you around :D. You’re a good bit younger than I am, but I consider you a mentor when it comes to what we’re collectively building. :D
We are classified as a member or service co-op; our members have organized this business for the purpose of providing a specific range of services to its membership. We have a couple more co-ops in the works, and some of those are worker co-ops, some of them are marketing co-ops, and one of them is potentially a credit union). When we get to profitability (we’re six months now at break-even, and slowly growing), we will decide as a group how to use the money: to reduce monthly subscriptions, invest in new gear, stockpile it to purchase our own property, or give a rebate at the end of the year. Whatever we do, it’s democratic: every member has one vote, no matter how much they invest or how much business they do with us. So in that sense, every member is already a partner. We’re planning to open more spaces throughout the region: when we get there, we might offer member shares to raise the capital. These would be preferred shares, and so dividends would be paid out on those before the regular member shares. But they’d be non-voting. Keep the questions coming! They’re useful for the next post :D -------------------------------------------- Trevor Twining Cowork Niagara http://coworkniagara.com <http://coworkniagara.com/> Home of Niagara’s independent workforce twitter: @coworkniagara, @trevortwining > On Feb 18, 2016, at 3:15 PM, Alex Hillman <[email protected]> > wrote: > > Man, I love seeing the Indy Hall playbook in action like this <3 <3 > > Echoing lots of what's been said here - I look forward to a more detailed > follow up post :) > > We have a few members that are VERY active in the co-op world and we often > get together to talk about how much co-op DNA Indy Hall has. > > I've also learned a lot about the different kinds of co-ops, including member > co-ops, employee co-ops, etc. Is there a specific kind of co-op you chose? > Are there any financial benefits to a member-owner, like dividends or > discounts? Are new members given opportunities to become member-partners now > that you're up and running? > > -Alex > > > ------------------ > The #1 mistake in community building is doing it by yourself. > Join the list: http://coworkingweekly.com <http://coworkingweekly.com/> > Listen to the podcast: http://dangerouslyawesome.com/podcast > <http://dangerouslyawesome.com/podcast> > On Thu, Feb 18, 2016 at 1:55 PM, Trevor Twining <[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: > Here’s a link to the Ontario Co-operative Association, whose resources and > advice were particularly valuable when we set up. If you’re in Ontario, > they’re more than happy to offer some initial assistance. If you’re outside, > they’re happy to refer you to the group in your area who can help. We’ve > become quite involved in the Niagara Regional Co-op Network which is closely > connected with On Co-Op. > > http://www.ontario.coop/programs_services/coop_development/starting_a_coop > <http://www.ontario.coop/programs_services/coop_development/starting_a_coop> > > It’s a rich resource, but there’s still a lot of jargon. I’ll try to break > our experience down in plain language. > > 1. We were already meeting as a jelly group for 18 months before we started > with our space, so we had a core community from which to build. > 2. As we were talking about the mutually-invested community we wanted to > build, someone who was already working on a food co-op in our city asked if > we had considered the model. > 3. We looked at the resources at the link above and enough connected that we > decided this was the model for us. > 4. We filled out the incorporation forms ourselves. It took a couple of > hours. (I can walk you through if you get to this stage) > 5. The membership fees from the founding members gave us the capital we > needed to create the corporation and get the initial paperwork filed. > 6. Members pre-paid first, last and as many months as they could up-front so > that we could build a nest egg. Some members provided member loans. > 7. Our membership model also encourages participation that doesn’t directly > involve the space, so we have a larger group of members than space users. > (our current membership is 70, but less than 30 use the space 1d/week or more) > 8. With that money in the bank, we were able to sign our lease, get our > utilities set up, and hang our sign on the door. > 9. We have a board of 8 directors, and they help guide the long term > direction of the group. I’m still chief resident volunteer > cat-herder/tummler, and we’re working on expanding our service offering so we > can pay someone to be in this role. > 10. Annually we have a meeting to review finances, vote on key changes in > direction, and when we get to the point where we’re managing a surplus, the > group will decide how that’s allocated. > > Next coworking meetup-type thing we do, I’d be happy to present this as a > talk in more detail. > > -------------------------------------------- > Trevor Twining > Cowork Niagara > http://coworkniagara.com <http://coworkniagara.com/> > Home of Niagara’s independent workforce > twitter: @coworkniagara, @trevortwining > > > > >> On Feb 18, 2016, at 12:00 PM, Trevor Twining <[email protected] >> <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: >> >> Thanks all, for your feedback so far. >> >> Sounds like I need a (few?) follow up post(s). I’ll also post some links >> shortly to resources we used. In Canada, most co-ops are provincially >> incorporated, so I assume that in the US each state will have its own co-op >> legislation. >> >> I’ll share what we did here in Ontario, and you should be able to figure out >> how that works in your province/state. >> >> I’m not sure how this works in other countries, but the co-op movement in >> Europe generally is huge, so there should be some good resources on that >> side of the Atlantic. >> >> -------------------------------------------- >> Trevor Twining >> Cowork Niagara >> http://coworkniagara.com <http://coworkniagara.com/> >> Home of Niagara’s independent workforce >> twitter: @coworkniagara, @trevortwining >> >> >> >> >>> On Feb 18, 2016, at 11:28 AM, Tony Bacigalupo <[email protected] >>> <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: >>> >>> Trevor, I think a lot of us are excited to learn more about how you pulled >>> this off! >>> >>> I encountered early thoughts on this topic as well, but found it difficult >>> to get a clear sense of how to go about in a way that would be viable. I >>> think any more details you can provide on that would be helpful to others >>> considering similar structures. >>> >>> Thanks! >>> Tony >>> --- >>> Projects: New Work Cities <http://nwc.co/consulting> • Open Coworking >>> <http://opencoworking.org/> • Cotivation <http://cotivation.co/> >>> eBook: No More Sink Full of Mugs <http://nwc.co/mugs> >>> Connect: Personal site <http://tonybacigalupo.com/> • Twitter >>> <http://twitter.com/tonybgoode> • Facebook >>> <http://facebook.com/tonybacigalupo> >>> New: Preorder the Ultimate Coworking Toolkit >>> <http://nwc.co/consulting/toolkit> >>> >>> >>> On Thu, Feb 18, 2016 at 8:53 AM, Jenifer Ross <[email protected] >>> <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: >>> Ditto. Can you provide more details on the financial structure? >>> >>> Sent from my iPhone >>> >>> On Feb 18, 2016, at 10:40 AM, Jacob Sayles <[email protected] >>> <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: >>> >>>> I'd love to know more about this. I'm certainly sold on the value >>>> alignment but I don't have a sense for how it works. >>>> >>>> On Thursday, February 18, 2016, Trevor Twining <[email protected] >>>> <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: >>>> Apologies. I used an internal link. </embarrassed> >>>> >>>> Here’s the real link >>>> >>>> http://coworkniagara.com/blog/2016/02/10/why-co-operatives-and-coworking-go-hand-in-hand/ >>>> >>>> <http://coworkniagara.com/blog/2016/02/10/why-co-operatives-and-coworking-go-hand-in-hand/> >>>> >>>> Trevor Twining >>>> [email protected] <> >>>> 416-201-2254 <tel:416-201-2254> >>>> twitter/skype/linkedin: trevortwining >>>> >>>>> On Feb 18, 2016, at 9:40 AM, Trevor Twining <[email protected] <>> >>>>> wrote: >>>>> >>>>> Hey everyone, >>>>> >>>>> When we were developing the business plan for our space two years ago, a >>>>> prospective member asked us if we had considered setting Cowork Niagara >>>>> up as a co-operative. We didn’t know what that was, so we checked it out. >>>>> >>>>> It was the best thing that we could have done. We’re the only >>>>> co-operative coworking space in english-speaking Canada (there’s one >>>>> other in Quebec). I’m now convinced that if more spaces use this model it >>>>> will help create stronger, more resilient coworking communities. I’m >>>>> sharing this in the hopes that it piques your collective curiosity. >>>>> >>>>> I wrote a post about it on our newly-launched blog. If any of you have >>>>> any questions about this, feel free to ask. >>>>> >>>>> http://cowork/blog/2016/02/10/why-co-operatives-and-coworking-go-hand-in-hand/ >>>>> >>>>> <http://cowork/blog/2016/02/10/why-co-operatives-and-coworking-go-hand-in-hand/> >>>>> >>>>> -------------------------------------------- >>>>> Trevor Twining >>>>> Cowork Niagara >>>>> http://coworkniagara.com <http://coworkniagara.com/> >>>>> Home of Niagara’s independent workforce >>>>> twitter: @coworkniagara, @trevortwining >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> -- >>>> Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com >>>> <http://discuss.coworking.com/> >>>> --- >>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >>>> "Coworking" group. >>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >>>> email to [email protected] <>. >>>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout >>>> <https://groups.google.com/d/optout>. >>>> >>>> -- >>>> Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com >>>> <http://discuss.coworking.com/> >>>> --- >>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >>>> "Coworking" group. >>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >>>> email to [email protected] >>>> <mailto:[email protected]>. >>>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout >>>> <https://groups.google.com/d/optout>. >>> >>> >>> -- >>> Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com >>> <http://discuss.coworking.com/> >>> --- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >>> "Coworking" group. >>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >>> email to [email protected] >>> <mailto:[email protected]>. >>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout >>> <https://groups.google.com/d/optout>. >>> >>> >>> -- >>> Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com >>> <http://discuss.coworking.com/> >>> --- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >>> "Coworking" group. >>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >>> email to [email protected] >>> <mailto:[email protected]>. >>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout >>> <https://groups.google.com/d/optout>. >> > > > -- > Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com > <http://discuss.coworking.com/> > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Coworking" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout > <https://groups.google.com/d/optout>. > > > -- > Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com > <http://discuss.coworking.com/> > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Coworking" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout > <https://groups.google.com/d/optout>. -- Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
