A Targeted Approach to Worker Co-op Development: Lessons from Mondragon and Northern Italy

PACE of Philadelphia has used an extremely “targeted” strategy for developing worker-owned enterprises in the food business. Our results include a food-brokerage company, a lobster plant and distribution warehouse and a network of supermarkets (the O&O Store) in the Philadelphia area. The O&O stores are formally linked through a second-degree co-operative which sets standards for use of the trademark and tradename, establishes requirements for technical assistance, facilitates deals for goods and services for all stores and serves as a locus for discussion of common problems. Assistance is also being provided to a second worker-owned supermarket network and the conversion of a food-processing plant to worker ownership.