The goal of this project is to start a credit union or cooperative bank that will aid the development of worker cooperatives in the United States. Worker cooperatives are business that are worker owned and democratically managed by their members. The credit union will help meet the following needs

1) The credit union will provide a way for the average person to financially support worker cooperative development. Currently existing coop loan and equity funds for coops are inaccessible and inappropriate investments for many due to their long term nature and lack of insurance. The credit union will provide consumer financial services where the deposits are used to benefit the worker cooperative community.

2) Limited financing makes capital intensive worker cooperative startups very difficult. The credit union will provide business loans and lines of credit exclusively to worker cooperatives, personal loans for members’ capital contributions which create coop equity, as well as consumer lending.

3) The credit union can fund entrepreneurial activities to develop and reproduce worker cooperatives. It will provide a way to finance the cost of creating cooperative employment opportunities that is shared by credit union members. The credit union will promote a self financing approach towards worker coop development.

This is part of an effort to further the developments of the infrastructure necessary to expand worker ownership and workplace democracy in the United States. The purpose of this website is to make a case for a worker cooperative credit union, generate and gauge the interest both within the worker cooperative community and the broader population, and begin organizing and taking the steps necessary for chartering.