There are several written guides for starting worker cooperatives, and many more for starting cooperatives in general that include sections on worker cooperatives. Having a good organizer or consultant, or mentor, surely makes any of the guides more useful. A few examples are:
- Steps to Starting a Worker Cooperative by Gary Hansen, E. Kim Coontz, and Audrey Malan (1997)
-
Empezando una Cooperativa de Trabajadores by E. Kim Coontz, CCCD. A Spanish-language version of Steps to Starting A Worker Co-op.
- In Good Company: the Guide to Cooperative Employee Ownership, a Worker Cooperative Toolbox by Margaret Lund and the Northcountry Cooperative Development Foundation (2006)
- Starting a Worker Co-op: A Canadian Handbook produced by the Canadian Worker Co-op Federation (2009)
- A Technology Freelancer's Guide to Starting a Worker Cooperative by Jim Johnson, Brent Emerson, et al (2009)
- Co-op 101: A Guide to Starting a Cooperative from the Cooperative Development Institute (2010)
- Putting Democracy to Work by Frank T. Adams and Gary Hansen (1987)
- Starting a worker owned cooperative for home care workers by Margaret Bau (2008?)
-
Forming and Operating a Worker Cooperative. A slide presentation at the 2010 Vermont Employee Ownership Conference by Newell Lessell of The ICA Group and Erbin Crowell of Co-operative Fund of New England.
- Cooperatives: A Tool for Community Development by Mary Myers , Greg Lawless , and E.G. Nadeau , University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives and Cooperative Development Services (1998)
- Considering Cooperation: A Guide for New Cooperative Development by Brian M. Henehan and Bruce L. Anderson, Department of Applied Economics and Management, Cornell University (2001)
- Cooperative Feasibility Guide by James Matson, USDA (2000)
- The Co-operative Formation Decision by Graeme Charles and David Griffiths, Cooperative Federation of Victoria, Australia, 2003
- How to Start a Cooperative by Galen W. Rapp and Gerald Ely (1996)
- Creating 'Co-op Fever': A Rural Developer's Guide to Forming Cooperatives, by William Patrie, USDA Rural Development (1998)
- A Legal Sourcebook for California Cooperatives: Start-Up and Administration by Van P. Baldwin (2004)
- Starting a Cooperative on the website of Cooperative Life
- Steps in Forming a Cooperative - a basic guide published by Cooperative Development Services, Madison WI.
- Cooperatives 101: An Introduction To Cooperatives by Donald A. Frederick, USDA Rural Development (1997)
-
Creative cooperatives. A guide to starting a cooperative in the creative industries. Cooperatives UK


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Currently in production,
Submitted by This Way Out (not verified) on
Currently in production, educational DVD: "This Way Out: Step-by-Step Guide To Starting A Workers Cooperative (Explained By Those Who Have Done It" Covering terminology (financing, legal), business and legal models, by-laws, business plans, preparing to talk to lenders, preparing conflict resolutions models, profiles of diverse cooperatives. Funding site: http://igg.me/p/12438?i=shlk Looking forward to the PBS broadcast! Workers cooperatives work!
Looks awesome, Jai Jai. Nice
Submitted by Joe on
Looks awesome, Jai Jai. Nice to see so many folks interviewed. Let's get that up on the front page.
Hi, The link for "A Legal
Submitted by jwant (not verified) on
Hi,
The link for "A Legal Sourcebook for California Cooperatives: Start-Up and Administration by Van P. Baldwin (2004)" is incorrect.
Currently, it is http://cooperatives.ucdavis.edu/CFC_pubs/vanbaldwin/vanbaldwin.htm.
I think the the correct link is http://sfp.ucdavis.edu/cooperatives/reports/vanbaldwin/intro.pdf
Thanks, jwant
Thanks for the correction, I
Submitted by Joe on
Thanks for the correction, I will update that. There are probably a few other broken links lying around since the U.C. Davis Center for Cooperatives website was taken down. Your link looks like it is only the intoduction, though - I have updated the link to the full document available from CCCD: http://www.cccd.coop/files/LegalSourcebookForCaliforniaCooperatives.pdf
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