BETTER TOGETHER COOPERATIVE SYMPOSIUM
October 29, 2011

Cohousing and many co-ops share many of the same basic principles to foster community on a small local level.

A lively and energetic meeting was held at the down town campus of Loyola University on October 29, 2011.
The meeting was started off with John Norquist president, Congress for the New Urbanism and former Mayor of Milwaukee and author of Wealth of Cities. He noted the strong development of coops in Wisconsin due to dairy farms as well as power cooperatives. This has given coops a strength in Wisconsin that they do not have in Illinois. New laws in Illinois could help to support the coop movement here.
There are many strengths that co-ops can deal with making housing much affordable for many. But one drawback – the trouble with social groups they take up too many evenings.
Some thoughts that came out of the conference : cooperation is the only way for a little man to exist in a big world, and the big one we seemed to have forgotten -
CO-OPS ARE DEMOCRATIC.
(co-op cont.)
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Herbert Fisher, past president of the National Association of Housing Cooperatives pointed out that coops have made it possible for a new class of ownership. During these hard times coops have a lot to say that are helpful to deal with creating affordable housing and a more affordable society.
Arguments we are now having focus on either: competition – it is either me or you – or- cooperation for the common good. There needs to be a shift in thinking – from profit and efficiency – taking chances -speculation on a large sale or affordable opportunities on a small scale with local community control for sustainability. This is something that needs to be learned. There are a number of coops that are doing just fine in the current financial turmoil we find ourselves in. A few examples: the Greenbay Packers (the team) is not moving anywhere else – it is a coop. Ace Hardware is also a coop.

OTHER PARTICIPANTS IN THE CONFERENCE INCLUDED:
Kristin Cox Marketing and Community Relations Manger of the North Side Community Federal Credit Union. (Note both the Chicago Cohousing Network and Prairie Onion Cohousing have accounts here).

Mark Fick, Senior Loan/Program Oficer Chicago Community Loan Fund who is involved in the Center for Workplace Democracy.

So, what do we mean by it? We define “workplace democracy” as essentially the process through which workers, individually and collectively, influence decisions at work that are usually reserved for managers to make. Specifically, we are referring to things such as what education and training programs workers need to produce goods and services; how work is actually organized; what kind of technology is developed or introduced in the workplace; what is the definition of quality of the goods and services that workers make; what kinds of investments employers and owners are making to keep the firm competitive and modern. And probably most importantly, what is the basic business strategy that is being employed to create a successful enterprise.
We believe that you get better business decisions and better outcomes when workers, individually and collectively, have an influence over these kinds of decisions. The mission of the center is to promote this process and to help our affiliate unions influence management decisions more effectively.

Vinnie Hernandez, General Manager and co-founder of Dill Pickle Food Cooperative. dillpicklefoodcoop.org

After years of planning, networking and raising funds, the Dill Pickle Food Co-op opened on November 21, 2009 at 3039 W. Fullerton. Dill PIckle Co-Op plans are ambitious: they’ll be stocking fresh, local organic produce and claim to have one of the largest bulk food sections in the city. Dill Pickle came into an area that was not served by a food store and is grown and doing just fine.