We spoke last week with Ted Howard, co-founder with Gar Alperovitz of the Democracy Collaborative and a key strategist of The Evergreen Cooperatives, the subject of our second Field Guide to Investing in a Regenerative Economy study. Evergreen is a remarkable experiment in anchor-institution-based cooperative enterprise, rooted in sustainable practices and dedicated to true wealth building in inner city Cleveland.
Ted told us about the exciting progress being made at Evergreen on a variety of fronts since we published our study last May. He updated us on the activity in the Evergreen business pipeline, including a new medical records document scanning cooperative and Ohio Cooperative Solar’s repositioning itself as an energy services company. The Evergreen Cooperative Development Fund, the financing arm for existing and new Evergreen enterprises, is beginning to take shape and is now housed at the National Development Council, Ted reported. Evergreen is also going viral in cities as diverse as Atlanta, Milwaukee, and Pittsburgh, and Evergreen will be featured in an upcoming PBS documentary and in the independent documentary ShiftChange.
Look for more in-depth reporting on what’s new at Evergreen in an upcoming Field Guide update.
