In 2016-2017 the Philadelphia Area Cooperative Alliance (PACA) implemented a co-op development strategy rooted in the history of black Americans creating and sustaining co-ops beginning with the formation of bookclubs. Throughout the program, PACA supported nearly 200 people - through a study process to learn more about the cooperative business model, identify the need they wanted their potential co-op to fill, and ultimately learn how to work together through democratic and cooperative practices to achieve their goal. In this workshop, PACA will share how it developed its strategy, go through its process for implementing the program, and lessons learned and corrections made along the way.
