Worker-owners of Arizmendi Bakery in San Rafael, CA, talk to the radio show Making Contact.
One of the most challenging parts of forming a worker owned business is that there aren’t a lot of models to follow. In some parts of the United States, there are virtually no co-ops. Learning how to manage and run a successful business isn’t easy, especially when you’re trying to do it differently. So many of those co-ops that do exist feel a special responsibility—to support each other, and help grow the number of worker controlled businesses out there. One of the model co-op organizations is located in the San Francisco Bay Area—its called Arizmendi. Making Contact’s Andrew Stelzer brings us this story about how when one of the organizations bakeries fell on hard times, the other businesses pitched in both money and time to help it survive.
A map of the worker cooperatives in the Arizmendi Association:
View Arizmendi Association Locations in a larger map
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