Author: Nia Hunter

  • Metta Integrative Wellness Cooperative

    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.

    Metta Integrative Wellness Cooperative

  • 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

  • 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!

  • 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

    Earthbound Building

  • Cajou Creamery

    Cajou Creamery

    Family owned Cajou Creamery is Baltimore’s first choice for plant based ice cream. They are a mission driven business that offers super food based, hand crafted from scratch, vegan ice cream.

    BRED has been assisting Cajou with the process of opening their own shop!

    Cajou Creamery

  • Yeleen Beauty Makers Space

    Yeleen Beauty Makers Space

    Yeleen Beauty Makers Space in Washington DC that whose goal is to disrupt the beauty industry. Yeleen will do this by providing a production and manufacturing space that will enable beauty entrepreneurs, particularly women of color, to launch and grow their own businesses.

    Yeleen Beauty Makers Space will be receiving a loan from BRED to help get the space up and running.

    Yeleen

  • Earthbound Building

    Earthbound Building

    Earthbound Building is a cooperative of skilled builders, crafts people and farmers that formed in 2014. Earthbound grew out of Black Dirt Farm Collective and the realization of the importance of functional, durable, and ecological farm and land infrastructure. They aim to provide these attributes of a sustainable food system through Timber Framing, Natural Building, and Agricultural Infrastructure.

    In 2021 BRED helped Earthbound with a land purchase loan. They now have an operations base which will allow them to take on larger projects.

    Earthbound Building

  • Obran Cooperative

    Obran Cooperative

    Located in Baltimore City Obran Cooperative is a worker-owned cooperative conglomerate that was formed in 2019. Formed by a group of returning citizens, Obran empowers its workers through ownership and education. Through their cooperative holding structure Obran is able to make purchases and hold profitable small to medium size businesses and real estate on behalf of its worker-owners.

    In 2019 BRED provided Obran Cooperative with a working capital line of credit.

    Obran Cooperative

  • Appalachian Field Services

    Appalachian Field Services

    AFS is an experienced and insured property preservation and mortgage field services firm based in Hagerstown, Maryland. A share of AFS business is held by Core Staffing Cooperative, another business that we support. AFS offers services like: property renovations, Inspections and Verifications, and property management.

    In partnership with Seed Commons, BRED financed the sale of the owner’s stake in the enterprise and in five residential properties to workers. We also provided intensive coaching and support in structuring the deal, and continue to support transitioning AFS to a culture of cooperative ownership.

    Appalachian Field Services

  • Taharka Brothers

    Taharka Brothers

    Taharka Brothers is a social enterprise in Baltimore City creating jobs and opportunities to empower Black youth and use the ice cream they manufacture to advance a pedagogy of liberation. In 2021 BRED helped Taharka Brothers take their business and mission to the next level by helping them transition to a worker-owned cooperative business!

    Bred provided our first loan to Taharka to help them get their amazing ice cream truck repaired and out on the streets in time for the summer of 2016. More recently in 2020 Taharka received a loan to purchase new equipment for one of their two scoop shop locations.

    Taharka Brothers