I have long been an advocate of co-ops and the worker owned businesses/companies. One of the best speakers, and most informed on this subject, is Richard D. Wolff, Professor of Economics, Emeritus, University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He is author of, Capitalism Hits the Fan, among many other works.
I do not know if Professor Wolff does interviews like THC, but I bet he'd like your Conspira T, Greg. I know I want one or more.
Here's his website: http://www.rdwolff.com/
John Abrams!!!
About 9 or 10 years ago, my to-be-wife brought home a copy of "The Company We Keep" from the library after hearing John Abrams on the radio. I'm dyslexic and don't read very often, but I read that book in a day and quit my job, at the time, the next week.
The book is in it's 2nd edition (at least) and now called "The Companies We Keep" ( https://www.amazon.com/Companies-We-Keep-Ownership-Community/dp/160358000X). The book is the story of a construction company ( http://www.southmountain.com/) on Martha's Vineyard and their transition from a Sole Proprietorship to an Employee Owned Cooperative Corporation. There are a ton of resources in the appendices, but it looks like many of them are at: http://www.southmountain.com/documents , specifically the "Ownership Transition Process" document. There are also great, candid descriptions of the process, including some of the weird ego issues and the fact that it won't always be chocolate and roses, even if you make a million billion dollars building houses for the richer than rich on Martha's Vineyard. I have literally bought and hand (or amazon) delivered this book to at least 8 people, I don't possess a copy right now because I gave my last one to a contractor working on my house.
Another subject that had a big impact on me was the description of the need for reaching consensus, the place for good moderators to achieve that goal and the lack of training and resources for moderators in our current paradigm (as perennially evidenced in our privately sponsored and run political debates).
I have some friends that broke off from a solar install company that I used to work for and started an employee owned cooperative corporation. They've already separated with one of the founding members, which was a huge emotional and legal hassle. After roughly two years they are saying something that the book emphasizes:
There is a difference between an Employee Owner and an Employee.
Starting out, the solar company was almost willing to take on any owners interested in signing up that they could keep busy. After having this shake up they are much less interested in taking on new owners. The book describes a 5 year waiting period after which the employee is voted on for acceptance by the existing owners, then there is the purchase price of the share and the diminished value of the existing shares... it's pretty complicated and could be really messy/creepy in an unhealthy community.
I'm very interested in looking into Wolff, but to be honest I would think a UMass Amherst Prof. emphasizing cooperative corporations would be on the SMC reading/reference list given their geographic proximity and the fact that that world is pretty small (again; http://www.southmountain.com/documents). I'm wondering why they aren't cross referencing.
Finally, and worth highlighting, "The Companies We Keep" is published by Chelsea Green Publishing, the same company that prints John Lamb Lash's "Not in His Image". They have a bunch of interesting titles and their website is worth browsing: http://www.chelseagreen.com/
A few years ago, I had what I thought was about enough to capitalize a small shiitake mushroom farm on my small acreage and actively sought interested people. I didn't get many bites, and some of the interested were fit to pass over with just a short audition. As time went by, I decided to go for a small wood products fabrication op with an idea of making nice laminated wood greenhouse frames, among other things. I am damned nearly a tree worshiper by religion, and I bought a small sawmill and refuse to use trees from clearcutting for a materials stream. I still would like to see the idea happen, though over the years, the capital I had initially has strangely shrunken away. Now, at almost 70, I would just like to get a nice sized wood shop built for me and my neighbors to use.
=======================
Here's a good talk Wolff gave on Mondragon in Spain:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKbukSeZ29o
Mondragon makes for a good model, especially of a coop achieving such large scale. But there's a lot there for startups to know as well.
That's really cool. I used to work for a guy that had an idea to open a co-op wood shop and garage in retirement communities for older gents who didn't care to learn golf, with the potential for franchising.
I'm also getting more and more intrigued by the fact that I don't remember Wolff as a part of "The Companies We Keep". They certainly have a whole chunk on Mondragon but I'm not recalling Wolff being mentioned at all. I guess the next person I buy this book for will have to be me, so I can read it again. I just can't think of any reason outside of egotistical feud that a Martha's Vineyard company wouldn't mention a UMass Amherst prof. that specialized in the co-op idea in their story of Co-op Corp transition. Maybe the book's lousy with Wolff and I just don't remember.
I'm not a good reader so I don't read all that much. I had the book, For All the People, by John Curl, but I loaned it and lost it before I read it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGx6B691vko&list=PL3B8B57976AC5474B
A new video of Richard Wolff has been posted.
