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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
On March 31, 2021 Lawrence Lanahan published an amazing article in Bloomberg Businessweek about the cooperative landscape of Baltimore. We are so happy to be included along with Seed Commons, and a few of the co-ps we work with, in an article that highlights cooperative businesses and some of the work we have done.
WYPR published an article about Joe Squared, written by Emily Sullivan, explaining how this business has stayed afloat amidst this pandemic. Joe Squared is just one of several Baltimore businesses converting to coops. Converting to a cooperative saves the business and all the workers receive the benefits.
One of the personal benefits of the cooperative structure is group decision making. Business hours, infrastructure, and pay, all become decisions made by everyone. This puts the power in the hands of the workers as a whole.
Sullivan writes “In the midst of the pandemic, those decisions include setting the price of drinks and establishing COVID-19 safety protocol. Using a voting system, the worker-owners have decided to operate take-out only in order to limit contact/covid spread and established a $3 service fee on each takeout order to boost the pay for front of the house employees from $3.63 an hour to $12. They decided to spread tips to the entire staff, ending the industry tradition of excluding back of the house employees, who work in the kitchen.” How amazing is that? To read more, follow the link below.
Baltimore Bicycle Works is Baltimore’s worker owned and democratically managed full-service bicycle shop. They have two locations in Baltimore; Fells Point and Belvedere Square.
BRED is working with Baltimore Bicycle Works to fuel their continued growth.
Mera Kitchen Collective is a community-driven, food-based cooperative focused on empowerment of refugee and immigrant women by tapping into their passion for cooking, self-expression and creating community.
BRED is supporting Mera Kitchen with technical assistance and support for their cooperative development process.
Red Emma’s was established in 2004. They are a worker owned bookstore, restaurant and coffee shop located in Baltimore MD. When Red Emma’s outgrew their previous space on North Avenue, BRED helped them finance its expansion in 2018. They are currently located at 1225 Cathedral St.
Red Emma’s also received a line of credit from BRED in 2019