Co-ops
What is a cooperative?
I worked at a south slope cooperative and have loved co-ops Since I was in high school I've always been fascinated by cooperatives on just how accessible and interesting they make capital and resources for people.
It's still kind of intimidating and interesting when looking at cooperatives and it felt like for quite a while they were not showing the most love. but their ability to be voluntary associations to be at cost or nonprofit structure to have accrued Capital credits dividend distribution and other ways of compensating members. you were not just a consumer in a Cooperative you are a member owner of the cooperative. it transcends for profit non-profit and government entities into its own form of cooperation and capital. hopefully in the future they'll be more cooperative and more entities like this that can help grow and expand community and opportunities for people.
telecommunications and REC’s
I always wanted to start a telecommunications Cooperatives 501 c12.
I worked for a few years at a telephone cooperative a Southern Slope you may call it :) they had a defined benefit pension fund from the NCTA the National Cooperative Telephone Association. all non-management staff were represented by the Union the CWA or Communication Workers of America so I was able to experience all that and on paper that's kind of a dream Utopia and I think in a lot of ways it was there was a lot of positives with it.
https://reic.uwcc.wisc.edu/telephone/
The 260 U.S. telephone cooperatives are consumer-owned utilities established to provide quality telecommunications service at reasonable cost. They offer various telecommunication services to 1.2 million rural Americans in 31 states. Telephone cooperatives are most often located in rural areas where there is a strong cooperative tradition. They provide local telephone exchange services, long distance telephone operations, direct broadcast satellite, wireless, TV, mobile radios, cellular and key systems, and Internet access.
While size varies significantly, the average telephone cooperative has >5,000 subscribers, 31 employees, and an annual revenue base between $1-5M. Like their rural electric counterparts, telephone cooperatives serve a very small proportion of the nation's telephone subscribers - about 5% - but their service area covers >40% of the country’s land mass
my 1st job I worked the company got bought out by the above co-op
National Information Solutions Cooperative (NISC)
Co-ops I am a menber of
Food
NewPi Food Co-op
I joined this one for $10
oil/ farm
Linn County Oil Cooperative
an agriculture co-op started in 1930 a member owner nonprofit
https://www.publicspaceone.com/
an Iowa City arts nonprofit and co-open
I joined https://fairstate.coop/ for a life membership $200 its a brew pub I don't drink but I like the ideas and ideals
A solar co-op out of Wisconsin $100 life membership
Book store co-ops
Local Denver nonprofit book shop
https://www.parkhillbookstore.org/
I joined for $20 a year
Free shipping
Up to 20% off all books
50% off your first book
Only $25/year after your free 30-day trial. Cancel anytime
think if you look at history this is what happens - no one does anything until the upper middle class is affected, and then you see grassroots action.
https://www.reddit.com/r/cooperatives/comments/1pcve9/can_someone_explain_to_me_how_a_consumer_coop/
https://www.reddit.com/r/cooperatives/comments/p50b9f/what_does_a_consumer_cooperative_look_like/
https://www.reddit.com/r/cooperatives/comments/17hi1cn/sell_me_on_food_coops_vs_a_normal_grocery_store/
It's still a good idea.
But then if you take it a step further, why not just own the companies that make the stuff you were gonna buy?
You only really NEED to buy a few things from foreign suppliers - oil for instance, occasionally grain, but if you get a few people together, all you really need is:
shelter/heat/ac (and the fuel for it)
food
medicine
money for taxes, for which you need at least one job, which requires transporation so at least one car
and that's kind of it. you can grow your own food. you can heat with wood, and you can rig up windmills for electricity for fans/ac/swamp coolers or whatever, you buy the shelter (actually i was listening to a program about people who permanently camp on blm land in arizona, but that's a little far out) and you work just enough to pay the taxes on the shelter
now you get into trouble with the medicine, because that's expensive if someone gets sick, so i would first move to a country with good public healthcare like france
so now you don't need to buy anything, so no need for a consumer coop, you just make a little town. probably in france.
Nowadays customers expect low prices but civic engagement is very low. The 1970s idea of run a volunteer consumer co-op and everyone gets everything on the cheap is no longer viable.
Look up to find co-ops
I dig these tools
https://directory.platform.coop/#1/31.1/-84.8
nationwide
https://www.chicommons.coop/cooperative-map/
Chiacago co-op look up
Greenbelt Co-ops
https://www.greenbeltnewsreview.com/
Telecom Co-op info
https://communitynets.org/content/cooperatives-build-community-networks
https://www.reddit.com/r/networking/comments/2fl8ud/how_hard_would_it_be_to_create_a_local_member/
https://www.landolakesinc.com/Blog/August-2022/Expanding-broadband-access-thanks-to-power-of-coop
https://greenbelt2012.wordpress.com/2012/03/09/mary-camp-on-greenbelt-computer-club/
https://www.greenbeltonline.org/about-greenbelt-online/
Wisconsin co-ops
list coop https://uwcc.wisc.edu/resources/utilities/
https://paddlerco-op.ca/
Established in 1962, the University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives (UWCC) strives to study, promote and research cooperative action as a means of meeting the economic and social needs of people.
Legacy Solar Wisconsin Cooperative
https://legacysolarcoop.org/
A solar co-op out of wiscon $100 life menbership
Milwaukee Careers Cooperative is a non-profit employment agency in Milwaukee connecting employers with work-ready employees
https://www.mccjobs.org/
Wisconsin Citizens Media Cooperative
https://riverwestinvest.com/
1k max investmnet has to be in wiscon to join
Gym coophttp://www.portagecrossfitcooperative.com/about-pcc.html