The Renaissance Community Coop will bring $1.3 million in private investment to Phillips Avenue, and has already raised more than half of that amount. The Renaissance Community Coop (RCC) is really on a roll! Self-Help Credit Union has stepped up with a term sheet offering $700,000 toward the start up costs for launching a community-owned [...]
Steve Dubb and David Zuckerman recently published a great article explaining how eliminating food deserts is critical to developing sustainable communities. This is precisely what the folks in Northeast Greensboro are working on through the Renaissance Community Coop. We are thrilled to join them in this effort and excited about the transformative potential it has [...]
Writing in The Nation, Laura Flanders covers the opening of New Era Windows in Chicago. After their former employer, Republic Windows and Doors, closed the plant and fired the staff, the workers occupied the plant. Eventually they were able to take ownership of it and, with the help of the broader cooperative movement around the [...]
On April 24, a great crowd came out for F4DC’s third movie night, “Food for Thought” at the Carousel Theater. We were so pleased to co-sponsor the event with Deep Roots Market in celebration of the grand opening of their new location and the Renaissance Community Co-op that’s in the midst of an impressive drive [...]
As I find myself thinking about community, the power of community, and much of the social change that has occurred and grown out of communities, I am in absolute amazement. Community success, and the community’s ability to do for ourselves, I believe comes from the notion that we are all interconnected and interdependent. This interconnectivity, [...]
The White House released its 2014 budget proposal recently. There are significant changes to the methods cooperative development is funded. The National Cooperative Business Association and CooperationWorks! have both expressed their concern. Below is NCBA’s response: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE NCBA Concerned Over Consolidation Proposal of Rural Development Programs Outlined in President’s FY14 Budget (WASHINGTON, DC) [...]
Next Wednesday, January 26th, F4DC is hosting the second movie in its Film Series on people building grassroots economies anchored in communities. We’ll be showing SHIFT CHANGE, a film about worker-owned cooperatives, at 6 pm at the Carousel Theatre. Click here for more info about the screening. If you’ve looked around our website a bit, [...]
My name is Alyzza May and I am a pedestrian. My main form of transportation is my body. I’ve never had a driver’s license, and get around by walking, taking the bus or train, and catching rides with friends, strangers, and loose affiliates. My great-grandmother’s name was May Walker, I wear the May in my [...]
Despite what many people believe, there are not many ways for city governments to directly impact economic development in communities. Cities don’t directly start businesses that provide goods and services and create jobs. Cities will tell you that their job is to create and sustain the infrastructure needed by business, and then let the market [...]
Most of us have never actually had to pack our own parachute, but it is not hard to believe that those who have packed it with great care. While we may think of sky-diving as a high risk activity, practitioners of the sport are extremely cautious and avoid any unnecessary risk. I would go so [...]