Wellspring Cooperative Corporation

05/18/2026

Sign Up! Worker Co-op Academy Summer Bootcamp
Wellspring Cooperative, Democracy at Work and the People’s Network for Land and Liberation are partnering to offer this 14-week Co-op Boot Camp, which Wellspring has been offering since 2017. The course is designed to empower individuals from underserved communities with the knowledge and skills to establish and manage worker-owned cooperatives. Our organizations are committed to fostering economic democracy through worker co-op development as well as by building local solidarity economy ecosystems.

Course Dates: Every Tuesday, June 16 – Sept. 15, 2026
Time: 6:00pm – 9:00pm ET (3 hours per week)
Instructors: Emily Kawano & Hector Figarella (Wellspring Cooperative)
Guest Lectures: Cooperative Fund of the Northeast (Financing), Sociocracy For All (Decision-Making), Democracy at Work (Marketing/Branding)

Click this link to sign up: https://www.democracyatwork.info/worker_co_op_academy #

05/15/2026

Today is World CLT Day - a global moment dedicated to highlight the role of community land trusts (CLTs) in advancing equitable and sustainable development.

On Tuesday, May 12, Wellspring and the Lower Valley CLT joined with the Valley Alliance for Land Equity, Berkshire Community Land Trust, and the Greater Boston CLT Network at the Massachusetts State House to speak with senators and representatives about legislative actions to increase opportunities for home ownership and tenants rights.

Contact your state senators and reps to support affordable housing:

Affordable housing priorities
https://mcusercontent.com/abd1a5602a4542f55b1152a79/images/0bd996cf-e245-5f42-a7c8-eb063627f961.png

State Senators Contact
https://malegislature.gov/Legislators

05/06/2026

On Saturday May 2 a group of people gathered to celebrate Voices of Working People’s History in Holyoke. The event included labor justice learning and action over dinner and a wonderful performance of music and dramatic readings from people rising up against oppression and injustice from the first May Day to present day.

The event was hosted by Wellspring, Western Mass Area Labor Federation and Warren J. Plaut Charitable Trust.

Thank you to all who attended and supported this event!

05/04/2026

Have you seen our 2025 Annual Report yet? Check it out!

Check out this A4 designed by Helen Harrison.

04/30/2026

Check out our April 2026 Newsletter! Topics include: We Bought a House! A New Staff Member and our Annual Report for 2025. Click the link in our bio to access the newsletter. Click this link to view it: https://mailchi.mp/e78a8454497e/wellspring-newsletter-april-17999443

04/22/2026

Meet one of our Board Members: Betsaida Vargas-Garcia

For nearly two years, Betsaida Vargas-Garcia has worked as kitchen manager for Gran Cocina, a certified commercial community kitchen, which is a joint project of Neighbor-to-Neighbor and Wellspring. Betsaida joined Wellspring’s board in January.

Betsaida has been working in food service since her first job at a restaurant at the age of 17. Her more than 20 years in the field include 11 years at the Brattleboro Food Co-op. There she became fascinated by natural foods, local foods, and how co-ops work.

At Gran Cocina, Betsaida loves meeting the kitchen’s members and helping them with ideas for growing their businesses. She’s looking forward to opening a cafe in the front of the space featuring members’ products. She hopes the cafe will encourage foot traffic and more interaction with community members. Courses in ServSafe and entrepreneurship, cooking classes, and youth activities are also among her goals for the kitchen. “This is a great space not only for serving food, but for bringing people together,” she said.

She is always eager to learn new things, and is excited about serving on Wellspring’s board of directors. Welcome, Betsaida!

04/14/2026

At the end of March, five people from the Wellspring community attended a 2 day Fab Lab Boot Camp led by Blair Evans, a Fab Academy trainer who is part of the People's Network for Land and Liberation (PNLL) node in Idlewild, MI. Wellspring participated in the training along with people from 3 other PNLL nodes, including folks in Idlewild, Community Movement Builders in Atlanta, and Cooperation Vermont.

Blair did a brilliant job walking us through hands on projects using the computer controlled laser cutter, Cricut, 3D printer, and CNC router to make 2D and 3D designs. We also fabricated a circuit board that could perform simple actions like playing tetris. Participants were thrilled with how much they learned and how much fun it was. Everyone is looking forward to the 2nd weekend of the Fab Lab Boot camp in April.

Wellspring envisions establishing fab labs in Springfield and Holyoke for community use. In the context of global supply chain and economic fragility, we see this as a essential way that communities can meet their needs with local labor, equipment and materials.

04/09/2026

Reserve your seat by clicking on this link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfBxV0agtno8NBmeO0rPmBwpcm-OrxQOtMuUP_5qQoBhrjb9Q/viewform

04/08/2026

Click this link to reserve your seat: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfBxV0agtno8NBmeO0rPmBwpcm-OrxQOtMuUP_5qQoBhrjb9Q/viewform

03/23/2026

Recently Wellspring's Go Fresh Mobile Market Celebration was featured in Western Mass News! The GoFresh Mobile market celebration was held on Wednesday, March 18. Springfield Technical Community College students and community members shared their stories on how GoFresh Mobile market provided healthy food that enhanced their wellbeing and lives. Leaders, partners, funders and staff of Mobile Go Fresh were also recognized at the event.

Wellspring has been a strong partner of GoFresh Mobile Market. The GoFresh Mobile Market provides access to healthy fresh local fruits and vegetables to Springfield residents who are food insecure.

GoFresh Farmers Market celebrates 15 yearsFor more Local News from WGGB: https://www.westernmassnews.com/For more YouTube Content: https://www.youtube.com/ch...