Comment by James E Miller on December 14, 2011 at 9:46am

THE MONDRAGON COOPERATIVE CORPORATION BLOG

Lesson One:  Watch these video presentations; make notes as you go;  then a week later watch them again, making notes.  Then make two columns for each significant entry in your notes.  The column name on the left is "MONDRAGON" and the one on the right is "REMOTE CAPITAL".  Then list the positive and negative attributes for each major note heading.  Here are the video presentations:

BBC's The Mondragon Experiment: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7565584850785786404&hl=en

MCC Corporate promotion: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpdoNzXGmxM

Mondragon Cooperative Experience: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7565584850785786404&hl=en#docid=-7773894254367283469

3 Richmond & Mondragon Cooperative: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dNfKqVS8nU

1 Evergreen Cooperative – Ted Howard: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_KWPFqOI84&feature=related

2 Evergreen Cooperative Ted Howard: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=wfkVgIB6zEs

Evergreen Cooperatives: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gt_ZHUDhKjs

Comment by James E Miller on December 14, 2011 at 9:48am

Lesson Two: Watch videos about capital raising:

Jenny Kassan on Raising Capital for Cooperatives: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ht_hLrvXGtc&feature=related

Follow Up to: Jenny Kassan on Raising Capital for Cooperatives: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6kdKby0p-4&feature=related

Incubating A Worker Cooperative On A Shoestring With Time Banks: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgI24bsgHao&feature=related

Lesson Three: Forming and operating a cooperative:

Co-ops: Transforming Lives and Communities: http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=aU-vc0ND1gM

The Life of a Cooperative Community - Part 1 of 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aftJWOdbhHI&feature=related

The Life of a Cooperative Community – Part 2 of 3:

Comment by James E Miller on December 14, 2011 at 9:48am

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxIjuUV7cMY

The Life of a Cooperative Community – Part 3 of 3:

Explaining the Amish Way of Life - VOA Story: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAgSCTdnrhk&feature=related

Comment by James E Miller on December 14, 2011 at 9:49am

12-14-11

Dawn,

Thanks for the welcome.  Now that you have seen the BBC documentary and read the webpages at http://sbic.wetpaint.com, we need to form a state chartered worker cooperative credit union as the first step.  There is such a move by the SF bay area coops, but nothing much has been done other than to agree to the need.

We need to form an "exploratory committee" of five or so folks to lay the legal, economic, and marketing foundation.  I'll handle the initial research into the legal aspects but will need a currently licensed attorney in the state of domicile for the CU to actually file the papers and shepard the CU through the regulatory agencies.

Much of the organizational work has been mapped.  The SEC allows the current casino stock exchanges to "self-police" which is a sad joke.  You will read about the serious approach to vet investors and small business applicants by Small Business Investment Exchange (SBIE).

We need the CU to raise the initial capital by taking in $100 deposits which will serve as collateral or "first loss money" in support of the formation of SBIE.  We'll use the New England Cooperative Fund as the working model for SBIE.

Jim Miller

 http://capitalhomestead.org/profile/3nvpg84pfvc3k#add_comment

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