Philadelphia Area Cooperative Alliance

08/21/2025

We are thrilled to announce HB 135: Filing Requirements for Cooperative Entrepreneurs. We are grateful to Representative Krajewski (and his team) for sponsoring this legislation and for working with us on the process. This common sense legislation lowers the required number of workers from five to three for the PA Worker Cooperative Corporation statute. We have seen the five person threshold to be a barrier for many of our start-up worker cooperatives. This amendment will make incorporating as a worker cooperative more accessible for Pennsylvania cooperative businesses, in this, the Year of the Cooperative.

We thank Rep Krajewski, the additional Reps who have signed on as cosponsors, and for our partners in this legislation at USFWC and KDC. We encourage you to email your State Representatives and say why you support this legislation and cooperatives. Please ask them to vote for it and to even become co-sponsors!

Use this digital hub to find your local Pennsylvania legislator, view past and upcoming session days, and view bills, amendments, statutes, and other legislative information.

08/20/2025

Thank you to everyone who joined our workshop last week: Succession Planning Event Co-op Style: Selling a Business to the Workers. And thank you to Ashley Ortiz, from Rocky Mountain Employee Ownership Center , for leading us in such great education about worker cooperative conversions as a critical succession strategy for businesses. You can watch the recording of this workshop on our youtube channel, linked in our bio. Businesses do not have to be lost when owners seek retirement; nor does the character and heart of a business need to face ruin due to being sold to a company who doesn't understand what was built. The business can be sold to the workers. And there are strong arguments for why this is your best strategy for the business you built, for the workers you care about, and for the community your business exists within). If you're interested in selling your business to the workers, or you're a worker who wants to think through strategies for buying the business when/if the owner looks to sell, feel free to reach out to us at [email protected] . Whether through start-up co-ops or a cooperative conversions, there are many ways of building an economically just Philly.

07/23/2025

Did you know that about only 30% of small businesses successfully sell? This means that about 70% of small businesses go unsold and are forced into closure. Did you know that in Philadelphia County 9,556 businesses have ownership that is 55 years old and older? That's 108k employees, 5 billion worth of payroll, and and 21 billion in revenue. This is referred to as the Silver Tsunami -- how our economy will be impacted as the older generation moves into retirement. There is an important succession strategy to be considered: selling a business to the workers. This is called a cooperative conversion. And... we love them and think you may, too.

On Thursday, August 14th, from 4-5pm, we're very excited to host a virtual succession planning event: Think About It: Selling a Business to the Workers. Leading us, we're excited to host two experienced Co-op Converters: Ashley Ortiz and Marion Champoux-Pellegrin from the Rocky Mountain Employee Ownership Center.

Whether you’re a business owner preparing to retire or an owner searching for a way to retain jobs, develop leadership, and build wealth, employee ownership can help you move your business forward. You can also be a worker who wants to learn more about the pathway to buy the business from its current owner. Either way, learn more about options and funding to support your journey at our introductory webinar. There will be time for Q&A at the end of the session. Link in bio to sign-up!

07/16/2025

We are thrilled to have received applications from so many extremely qualified candidates for our PT Co-op Developer Position. Initially the position was rolling until filled. However, due to the volume of qualified applicants who have applied - we are going to close the application window on Friday, 7/25. If you're interested: job description is in the bio. Please email us your cover letter and resume to [email protected]. Thank you all!

06/28/2025

Next week, June 30 – July 4, PACA will be on vacation, resting and spending time with loved ones. During this week, we will be fully out of the office and will respond to any emails and inquiries as soon as we can once we return on Monday, July 7. Thank you to everyone in our community for your continued work, support, and insight!

06/20/2025

Read all about it!
Go to a Weavers Way branch now to grab their June edition. (You can also read their online edition - https://buff.ly/lqyk7rg .) In it you’ll read the worker-owners of new landscaping co-op tell their story. How they faced job losses when the owner of the landscaping business they previously worked for decided to sunset — and how from there they decided to band together to form a worker-owned cooperative! They’ll also describe what that process was like (and our work with them) and what being a worker-owned co-op feels like now.

You’ll also get to read a piece about our advocacy work for Philly co-ops; alongside , , and our partner Councilman O’Rourke — in this, the Year of the Co-op.

Thank you to WW The Shuttle for always welcoming co-op stories with open arms. We’re grateful you exist!

06/13/2025

Philly Co-ops Happy Hour!
Comradery.co, the Philly Cooperative Alliance and NarraScope are joining forces to bring you an evening of board games and co-operation! Register here: https://buff.ly/r3JhI2T

Friday, June 20th, 6:30-10pm
at Queen & Rook Game Cafe

Comradery.co, the Philadelphia Area Cooperative Alliance, and NarraScope are joining forces to bring you an evening of board games, drinks, and snacks at The Queen and Rook Game Cafe! Meet game designers, cooperative worker-owners, and game designer co-op worker-owners at a private, casual event on the second floor of the Queen and Rook where you can chat, play games, and unwind with a free drink!

The Philly co-op scene is growing quickly, and this is a great opportunity to engage with other co-ops and prospective co-ops doing exciting work across the city.

Event Details:

Doors open at 6:30, close at 10pm
Light snacks are provided, a dinner menu is available
One free drink ticket for RSVP holders, paid drinks available with a private bartender
Access to cooperative board games selected by Queen and Rook gamemasters, plus access to the full Queen and Rook board game library for the whole evening
Meet and network with NarraScope attendees as well as local Philly cooperative and union organizers

This event is paid for by the Comradery.co Development Team. If you are able, a donation is greatly appreciated to offset the cost and to host future events like this one. The suggested donation is $20. You can also support Comradery development by subscribing to the Comradery Development Team at https://buff.ly/hOlwUY8.

06/05/2025

Know your rights! Conozca sus derechos!

Reminder to stay calm, remain silent, and do “not answer any questions or sign anything without legal representation.”

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Recordatorio: mantenga la calma, guarde silencio y no responda preguntas ni firme nada sin representación legal.

06/04/2025

This Year of the Co-op, and for all the years to come, together let's build policy which supports and advocacy which builds Philly co-ops! Join us, this July, for an in-person gathering to reconvene our PACA Policy and Advocacy Circle. At the gathering we'll talk about co-ops' needs as we see them, and brainstorm the ways that, through policy and advocacy, we can help meet them. Members of Philly cooperatives are specifically encouraged to attend, but supporters are also welcome. The hope, coming out of this gathering, is for a group of folks who will work collaboratively together in the P&A Circle.

Reminder that when we say policy, we are talking about ways to meet co-ops' needs through government support. Advocacy is part of policy, but it contains multitudes beyond that, too. Advocacy is a broad umbrella for how we build public awareness and support for Philadelphia cooperatives.

Food and drink will be provided at the gathering. Location will be in West Philly, exact address to be decided. Sign-up at link in bio or here: https://buff.ly/CFBV7sA to stay in the loop and receive more info!

06/02/2025

Last of our public testimony videos, but far from least, we have Mo talking about why we’re asking the City of Philadelphia to invest in building the cooperative economy with a 1.3 million grant and probono technical assistance fund for Philly co-ops. Mo is one of the founders of PACA and the Policy Director at the United States Federation of Worker Cooperatives . She knows firsthand, from doing this work across the country, how critical it is to have governments: national, state, and local, invest in co-ops and through that investment stimulate their growth. As Mo discusses, there is still a lack of education on cooperative structures, which often means that cooperative businesses are kept out of accessing needed resources to launch and sustain themselves. And we need more of these co-op businesses! As Mo discusses, some of our longest running co-ops here in Philly, Childspace — an incredible worker-owned childcare center (started in the late 1980s!) and Home Care Associates (started in the early 1990s!) the largest worker-cooperative in the city — they are owned and democratically managed by some of the ordinarily most exploited workers: domestic/care workers. But by owning their business together, they are not exploited. The workers are the owners — there is no boss to exploit them. We need more co-ops like these in Philly. These are the very very last days to email and call City Councilmembers and tell them why you care about cooperatives. Remember, City Council works for us, the people of Philly. Tell you them you want the City to include this co-op grant fund in the FY26 budget. (Thank you to all who have been calling and emailing.) Let’s make Philly a co-op city!

05/30/2025

PACA Board President, Brad, spoke at City Council public testimony day about how cooperatives are answers to many of our economic issues. He spoke on how co-ops are avenues of self-determination for people to come together to solve their economic problems themselves, in their communities and across industries. He called on the City of Philadelphia to invest in and stimulate the co-op economy, as a way of making a more sustainable city economy, with our FY26 Budget ask of 1.3 million dollar grant and probono technical assistance grant fund. He said that Philly can once again by a leader in independence -- economic independence for our people.

Email/call City Council today to tell them why an investment in the co-op economy is important now, not later. They enter into negotiations next Wednesday. Email/call today, please!

05/29/2025

"Solidarity Cities: Confronting Racial Capitalism, Mapping Transformation" is a new book which studies "cooperative networks in three differently sized American cities, highlighting their commitment to cooperation, democracy, and inclusion and demonstrating the desire—and the pressing need—to establish alternative foundations for social and economic justice."

One of those studied cities is Philadelphia and our cooperative economy here. The book is written by four social scientists, including Craig Borowiak, a professor from Haverford College. Craig spoke to City Council this May 13th about his study of Philly's co-op economy and why it so vital to invest in its growth, since cooperatives (and the solidarity economy at large) serve as " bulwarks against gentrification, exploitation, and economic exclusion ". We thank the professor for giving testimony in support of the city investing in the cooperative economy. Please email/call City Council today/within the next week to tell them that you want them to invest in our co-op economy via our budget ask of 1.3 million grant fund to support Philly co-ops!

Also, you can buy Borowiak's book at beloved PACA member co-op Making Worlds .