Thank you to all of our elected representatives in the New York City Council and Mayor DeBlasio for renewing and growing the City’s historic Worker Cooperative Business Development Initiative for the 4th year in a row.

We particularly thank the following council members for stepping up to make their voices heard in support of this historic initiative:

• Hon. Melissa Mark-Viverito, 8th CD
• Hon. Helen Rosenthal, 6th CD
• Hon. Anabel Palma, 18th CD
• Hon. Carlos Menchaca, 38th CD
• Hon Antonio Reynoso, 34th CD
• Hon. Brad Lander, 39th CD
• Hon. Andy King, 12th CD
• Hon. Ritchie Torres, 15th CD 

Thanks to the City’s investment of over $5 million since the initiative began 3 years ago, the WCBDI has achieved significant results toward scaling and strengthening the cooperative ecosystem in NYC.

The initiative has created a total of 65 worker-owned businesses, effectively tripling the number of worker cooperatives in New York City in three years.

These new businesses have created 282 new, sustainable jobs which compete with industry standards in terms of pay and conditions.

In addition, the Initiative has educated thousands of entrepreneurs and other stakeholders to inform them of the benefits of worker-owned business.

This year, Green Worker Cooperatives and the 12 other funded organizations* are poised to:

Your leadership is making this possible. We notice and appreciate your work, and urge you to continue leading the way in creating a more equitable city for all New Yorkers.

Sincerely,

Green Worker Cooperatives 

*Organizations receiving WCBDI funding in FY 2018 are: Green Worker Cooperatives, Center for Family Life in Sunset Park, The Working World, Workplace Justice Project, Urban Justice Center, NYC Network of Worker Cooperatives,  The ICA Group, Democracy At Work Institute, Business Outreach Center Network, Urban Upbound, Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies, Bronx Cooperative Development Initiative, CUNY Community Economic Development Clinic