Introduction to Tech Coops

facilitated by Lottie

notes by Laura

This session was a discussion of coops: what they are, why they are important.

About OpenFlows

Lottie works at NYC OpenFlows w/ Eric. OpenFlows works with nonprofits, unions, and other groups with similar values.

What are coops?

A business that is worker-owned, which means:

• Worker/owners all own equally
• Members may collect money separately
• Produces something (can be food, like Land o' Lakes)
• Clients are shared
• Owners pay fee to the coop in service-oriented coops
• Not like Uber or AirBnB

More about OpenFlows

• Tech coops specifically work-flow systems
• Heavy lifting for complex systems like Drupal and CiviCRM

Palante Tech

• Tech support coop based in Brooklyn
• Seven workers
  • One is not an owner
  • Distributed in three other cities
• People shared their interests

How did they become a coop?

• Jack was a freelancer
  • Realized one person couldn't have all the skills needed - wanted to be in a group that could share skills
• Coop gave them ability to specialize
• Managing clients and accounting is shared in economy of scale
• No longer working in isolation

How it started

• Met with people who knew each other already and wanted to start a business
• Politics: didn't want to be "bosses"
• Not a nonprofit, but not about profit
• Time before coop - had subcontractors
• Started March 2010
• Incorporated in November 2011

How it works

• Technically it's a C corp (varies state by state)
• A community development project helps people start coops in New York
• Lots of long meetings - how to set up HR, hiring/firing
• Collective, means one person=one vote - decisions made by consensus
• Coop refers to type of ownership, collective refers to how it's governed
• Hiring is similar to other places - benefits start right off the bat
• Process - after nine months, change from worker -> worker-owner
• Challenge: doesn't work out
• How to fire: a problem - we haven't been able to
• At three months: getting up to speed
• At six months: step up
• Questions from new hires:
  • How to become member?
  • How to start coop?
  • What is structure of coop?
  • Pros/cons
  • How to create team w/ more connection
  • Lessons learned
  • How to do collaborative work
  • Org that does tools for nonprofits
  • Things that make coops work
• Don't make ramp up period longer than nine months, because it sets up a power differential because of ability to vote
• Profits divided equally based on how much each person worked, proportionally

Open Flows - Lottie

Origin

• Was formal corporation owned by people no longer involved
• Moved from Toronto -> New York
• 12 people in four countries
• Closed company re-formed as a coop
• People weren't stepping up
• Also a political decision
• Ended up two people, Eve and Mark, formed better structure
• Hired (??) to write point of unity
• Slowly brought in two more worker-owners
• Now working on C corp status
• Bringing in new people - someone you will have to come to consensus with
• Statement of unity as people not just labor
• Having sabbatical/time off in a supportive way
• Lottie became a member last year
• Interview: member had been working at Radical Designs - needed similar services
• Worked because people leave because of money - wasn't looking for money
• Found them to be very generous - heart is really in it

How to generate new business?

• The Companies We Keep - book about coops
• Word of mouth
• You can do what you want - don't all have to do the same job
• It's okay to have different skills and levels, but everyone knows the basic skills

B corps

• Heard about these?
• OpenFlows using Brooklyn (??) School
• No one has yet formed B corp as coop - no motivation to do it that way
• In California can be LLC and coop, but not in New York

Pay scale and hours

• Hourly
  • Billable, personal, etc.
  • Educational
• $30.25/hour + % of profits
• OpenFlows - three different salary levels
  • Part time
  • Full time
  • 3/4 time
• Because of disparity of skills/weeks of work
• Q: admin to be part of coop?
• 35 hours/week: quality of life
• Lottie: "Ideal vs. what we really are"
• Working towards 32 hour work week
• Deciding ho to divide the pot of money so everyone feels they get what they need
• Jack: Tempted to get admin only
• Try to share
• Not stuck with jobs we don't like
• We all talk about how we want to work less but don't do it
• Support each other to not work more than we want to
• People can take breaks!