A 20 second (maybe a full minute) update on the activities of NWCDC!
Twenty on the Twenty
A 20-second (or so) monthly update about co-op development in the Pacific Northwest provided to you on or about the 20th of each month. Please share with your network!
NWCDC Partners with Oregon Employer Council on Legacy Project
The Legacy Project series of workshops kicks off as part of the Oregon Employer Council Annual Conference in Coos Bay, Oregon on April 29, 2019. The Legacy Project will provide three workshops designed to educate attorneys, accountants, and other business coaches and advisers on the benefits and nuances of converting an existing business to a worker-owned cooperative. The OEC is dedicated to connecting employers to resources and education, partnering with communities and government agencies to promote workforce development.
Columbia Court ROC Closes
They are officially a Resident Owned Community. The Columbia Court Cooperative, in Longview, WA, took ownership of the property on Friday, February 15th. This is the 14th ROC in Washington developed through the NWCDC and one of the first to include Recreational Vehicle spaces.The newly formed co-op has 33 homes that will be preserved as affordable housing indefinitely. The board of directors is meeting weekly to get the business up and running. Many of them are already planning on attending the ROC leadership Institute to be held in Manchester, New Hampshire this June.
ROC NW Staff Help Educate Legislators About Manufactured Housing
The ROC Northwest team has been busy advocating at the Legislature. There are a large number of Manufactured Housing Bills currently being heard in committees. The ROC team is working on two bills with Representatives Cindy Ryu and Beth Doglio . HB 2004 c oncerns the property tax exemption for nonprofit organizations providing rental housing or mobile home park spaces to very low-income households. HB 2005 seeks to reinstate the real estate excise tax exemption for qualified sales of manufactured/mobile home communities to the residents or other non-profits and land trust for preservation of affordable housing.  Representative Ryu will also be submitting a 2.2 million dollar appropriations request to fund ROC technical assistance during conversions and to help with grant dollars to expand manufactured housing preservation work.
ACE Webinar Series on Co-op Development
Interesting in taking a deeper dive into our world of rural co-op development? Now you can do so from the confines of your favorite computer! The Association of Cooperative Educators released a webinar series on co-op development: Planting the Seed: Empowering the Next Generation of Rural Co-op Development Professionals . This six part series offers the recordings and slides from the webinars presented in 2018. From ACE' s website: " The Association of Cooperative Educators founded in 1969, is a non for profit organization that has a mission to strengthen cooperatives and the cooperative movement by promoting innovative educational responses to social and economic changes in United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. ACE provide members a forum to highlight programs and practices that increase understanding, innovation and professionalism in cooperative education."
Save the Date: International Co-op Day is July 6, 2019!
The theme of the International Day of Cooperatives 2019 is COOPS 4 DECENT WORK .
It is a day to celebrate cooperatives and that cooperatives are people-centered enterprises characterized by democratic control that prioritize human development and social justice within the workplace.
“Cooperatives help to preserve employment and promote decent work in all sectors of the economy. Through participation, members have a motivation to change their lives, their communities and the world,” Ariel Guarco, President of the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA), has said.
--reprinted in part from International Cooperative Alliance

If you co-op is holding an event to celebrate International Day of Cooperatives, let us know !
Help us provide technical assistance to co-ops!

You don't have to wait for the end of the year to support our programs! You can provide a tax deductible one-time donation or monthly sustaining gift to help fund the work of co-op development !
You may earmark specific projects.
 NWCDC | 360-943-4241 | 360-570-8415 | info@nwcdc.coop | www.nwcdc.coop