This new fund will help retiring baby boomers turn their businesses into worker co-ops

In May, the Evergreen Cooperatives, a network of worker-owned businesses in Cleveland, took over operations of a laundry facility owned by the Cleveland Clinic. On the surface, it was a straightforward business transaction. The Evergreen Cooperatives launched in 2009 with Evergreen Cooperative Laundry, a small business owned and operated by just a handful of workers. Today, the whole network comprises the laundry, as well as a cooperative green energy business and an urban farm, and employs more than 220 people. After nearly a decade of steady growth, the Evergreen Cooperatives wanted to expand, and taking over operations of the Cleveland Clinic laundry facility was an opportunity to do so.

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Posted in Links, Worker Co-op Stories.