An update on co-op activity in the Pacific Northwest !
Co-op Developments
A short 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!
Twisted Strait Annual Meeting
TSFC board (l-r): Marcia Adams, Wendy Bond, Anne Rosecrants, Connie Beuavais, Debra Danielson, and Cathy Reed (not pictured)
Twisted Strait Fibers Cooperative held their third annual general meeting on February 8th and this time the snow stayed away! At the meeting, President Ann Rosecrants discussed the successes and continuing goals of the co-op to support the animal fiber community on the Olympia peninsula. NWCDC's Deborah Craig was the keynote speaker for the meeting.

Last year, the co-op launched their commercial website for members to sell their fiber products under the co-op's banner. This year, they hope to begin producing lawn amendments made from wool fiber and continue building towards a full service fiber mill with the launch of a scouring service. The co-op also re-elected Marcia Adams to the board and elected two new directors: Debra Danielson and Cathy Reed.
Evergreen Estates Homeowner Co-op -- 15th ROC in Washington
Evergreen Estates Homeowners Co-operative is officially the 15 th Resident Owned Community in Washington State. The co-operative, which was formed last year, took ownership of their property on January 24 th . Evergreen Estates is a 55-and-over community located in Centralia with 55 homes that will now be preserved as affordable housing. The board of directors has hit the ground running and the first membership meeting will take place in early March. This is the first Washington ROC conversion project that was completed with grant assistance from the Washington State Department of Commerce marking an important milestone in this new partnership!
Evergreen Estates Park Sellers Praise ROC NW
The couple who sold Evergreen Estates to the residents gave a favorable review to our partners ROC-USA:

An email Angelo Romeo promoting the sale by ROCNW partner ROC*USA noted the following:

"The sellers, Kelly and Wendell Verduin, were skeptical at first. They weren't sure how their park's residents, situated in a lower economic area, were going to pull this off. The results speak for themselves, however. As Wendell said, 'I just think it is fantastic you are able to make this work and help a portion of manufactured housing communities achieve resident ownership. Your team has developed a way of doing this that makes a great deal of sense. We are pleased. We are really impressed.'

Wendell also has some thoughts to share with other park owners: 'Some of you love your tenants, and [ask yourselves] what is best for them? Are you more concerned about them or some investor you don't know? Through this effort, your residents are going to be much better off long term than they would be if they have to continue to pay for investors coming in. Look at the (ROC USA) track record, look at our own experience. '"
ROC NW Seeks New Marketing and Acquisitions Specialist
After three years of coordinating the conversion of manufactured home parks into resident-owned communities, Sam Green will be moving into new duties at NWCDC. As a result, we are looking for a new Marketing and Acquisitions Specialist. Please share our position announcement on Idealist with anyone that you think would help NWCDC and ROCNW meet its mission. The ROCNW team will begin reviewing application materials on February 29 and hope to hire as soon as possible.
Learn about the different options of employee ownership and transitioning to an employee-owned business. Watch the full 7 part series on converting an existing business to an employee-owned cooperative on our web site at The Legacy Video Series .
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 NWCDC | 360-943-4241 | 360-570-8415 | info@nwcdc.coop | www.nwcdc.coop