Check out this article in the Baltimore Banner about Red Emma’s and their new permanent home! We are so happy for them!
Author: Nia Hunter
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Red Emma’s In The News
Kaitlin Newman/The Baltimore Banner -
Let’s Get Together
With only one in-person event in the books for 2022, we realized we haven’t had a happy hour event in a long time! So we are happy to say that on November 2nd, BRED will be hosting a Co-op Happy Hour! If you’re a co-op member or plan to be in the future, join us at Red Emma’s new location from 5-7 PM. If you’ve never been to one of our happy hours, it is a great chance to casually get food, eat, drink, and talk with BRED staff and other members of Baltimore’s cooperative community. We hope to see you on the 2nd.
Masks are required unless actively eating or drinking
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Happy Anniversary to Cajou Creamery
This weekend Cajou Creamery celebrated the one year anniversary of opening their scoop ship! We have loved seeing how having a physical location allowed Cajou to expand and also become a permanent Baltimore City. We hope you got to attend and if you didn’t please make plans to, because their cashew ice cream is out of this world!
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Opportunity: Worker Ownership State Advocacy (WOSA) Fellowship
This looks like an amazing opportunity!
Photo source: The United States Federation of Worker Cooperatives The Worker Ownership State Advocacy Fellowship (WOSA) is a program of the U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives that equips and supports worker-owners as advocates and spokespeople for worker co-op initiatives, particularly in their home state. In our second year of the fellowship, we are pleased to be able to expand the cohort as well as increase stipends for participation.
For more information and to apply click here ——> Apply
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Our Jumpstart Is Back
SAVE THE DATE for May 7th, 2022!
The Baltimore Roundtable for Economic Democracy (BRED) will be hosting our fourth Worker Cooperative Jumpstart on May 7, 2022! After a hiatus, we are excited to bring back this jam-packed day of workshops focused on establishing and running worker cooperatives. Whether you’ve been a worker-owner for years, are thinking about starting a co-op, or just want to learn more this event is for you!
New and developed cooperatively-minded workers will be able to learn the basics of cooperative structure and economics, get ideas on how to start or structure your own cooperative, and be able to Q&A with experienced worker-owners! There’s something for everyone – past Worker Cooperative Jumpstarts have included panels with long-term worker-owners, in-depth information on how to make your business “breakeven,” and a nuanced look at what happens with worker-owner governance.
Our new highlighted workshop will be Cooperative Conversions – Are you and your coworkers interested in buying the business where you currently work and converting it into a cooperative? This is for you! Organizations and individuals are welcome!
REGISTER here
Date: May 7, 2022 Time: 10am-4pm Location: 2640 St. Paul street, Baltimore
Light Breakfast + Lunch will be provided
Please let us know by April 24th if you need the following:
*Interpretation and what kind (Spanish, sign language, etc)
*childcare
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Restaurant Co-ops And Economic Justice
Article by Robert R. Raymond
In an exploitative system like the restaurant industry, restaurant co-ops offer economic justice and peace of mind. Members of Red Emma’s and other worker-owned co-ops talk with Truthout about how the co-op business structure is changing the game for workers.
“Being an owner of a business is a great feeling because I feel like it’s mine, that I have my name attached to something and I can impact something that’s bigger than myself — it’s empowering,” Malik Cole, a worker-owner at Red Emma’s, a cooperative restaurant, bookstore and community events space in Baltimore, Maryland, told Truthout. “It’s not just one person that’s running everything — it’s all the worker-owners coming together.”
Click Red Emma’s talks to Truthout to read more.
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Metta Integrative Wellness Cooperative
Many of you have known Metta Integrative Wellness Center for years, perhaps since it’s opening in 2008. This is Metta Integrative Wellness Cooperative. It’s like Metta, reimagined.
When Metta’s founding owner decided it was time for her to step away, we, the therapists of Metta, needed a radical solution to keep the business alive. We wanted something different from the status quo – a place where we could all continue to shine as individuals, to be uniquely ourselves, and to support each other collaboratively. We dreamed up a solution in which we could stick together, work together, and be equal partners in deciding the future of the business.
We formed a cooperative. By forming a worker-owned cooperative (or “co-op”), we have joined an anti-capitalist labor movement with a long and rich history both nationally and abroad. Co-ops are business that exist to benefit their workers and the communities they serve.
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Watch Co-op 101
Here it is! We recorded the Co-op 101 webinar from 5/20, so in case you missed it you can watch it when you are able. Click this link: Recording: Co-op 101
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Wanna Learn About Co-ops? Co-op 101 Is Here For You
Are you co-op curious? Come join Baltimore Roundtable for Economic Democracy for Co-op 101, a fun filled hour full of conversations about legal structures and capital! We will be discussing the pro’s and con’s of cooperatives, different types of co-ops and their flexible forms of doing business, and how you can put what you have learned to work. If you have ever wondered what a cooperative is, how it’s possible for workers to own a business, or if you have an idea for a cooperative and don’t know where to start, this is for you.
These events are always free and this is the first of two free virtual educational webinars that we will be doing for the month of May. We will begin at 2pm and should finish at 3pm on May 20th. Make sure to take notes on all the wonderful topics and use the chat to ask any questions. A recording will be available via YouTube for you to watch and share.
click here to register for Co-op 101. We can’t wait to see you there!
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New Chapters for Some of our Projects
Baltimore is becoming recognized more and more for its growing ecosystem of worker-owned cooperatives. We work with many of them and some our supported projects have reached some great milestones in the past couple months.
In April, Earthbound Building was able to buy land! With a land purchase loan from BRED, these builders are able to have a base of operations for their business. Earthbound Building is a black owned business that builds ecological and sustainable homes and farm structures, using materials and techniques that use less resources and lower their impact on the earth. They are birthed from Black Dirt Farm where they were first farmers who later became builders. They are already booked for the year because their work is high quality and reliable.
Another recent accomplishment is Red Emma’s finding a new location. That’s right, after seventeen years of business Red Emma’s is buying a building to permanently call home. They will be moving into the neighborhood of Better Waverly near another Baltimore staple, Pete’s Grille. The move should happen towards the end of this year, and it will bring back the much loved and missed Baltimore Free School. The Free School is a space where classes, workshops, business meetings, and other gatherings can be offered and participated in for free. Red Emma’s has always been a resource to the community, and they can do so much more with this location.
To learn more about these Earthbound Building and Red Emma’s clink the links below.
Red Emma’s