Cooperative Tools

Joel Dahlgren, Legal Primer: For Formation of Consumer-Owned Food Cooperatives, Madison, WI: Cooperative Development Services, 2008.
tool-cds-food-co-op-legal.pdf (750KB)

Gary B. Hansen, E. Kim Coontz, and Audrey Malan, edited by Mary Rodgers, Steps to Starting a Worker Co-op, Davis, CA: University of California, Center for Cooperatives, 1997.
tool-center-coops-start-worker-coop.pdf (1.6MB)

Karen Zimbelman, How to Start a Food Co-op, Arcala, CA: Cooperative Grocer’s Information Network, 2002.
tool-cgin-food-coop.pdf (930KB)

Cooperative Grocers Information Network, How To Start a Food Co-op, 2010 edition (update of 2002 manual by Karen Zimbleman), Arcata, CA: CGIN, August 2010.
tool-cgin-food-coop2010.pdf (1.2MB)

Anne Reynolds and Char Thompson, Development Manual for Small Rural Home Cooperatives, Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives and Foundation for Rural Housing, Inc., September 2005.
tool-devo-rural-home-coops.pdf (9.7MB)

Galen Rapp and Gerald Ely, How to Start a Cooperative, Washington, DC: USDA Rural Business Cooperative Service, Cooperative Information Report 7, Sept 1996,
tool-how-to-start-a-coop.pdf (330KB)

Cathy Smith and Judi Miller, Midatlantic Guide to Cooperative Development Resources, York, PA: The Keystone Development Center, February 2008.
tool-keystone-coop-development.pdf (380KB)

Anne Reynolds and Char Thompson, Legal Manual for Small Rural Home Cooperatives, Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives and Foundation for Rural Housing, Inc., September 2005.
tool-legal-rural-home-coops.pdf (230KB)

Kiara Nagel, Khalil Shahyd, and Michael Weisner, Youth Cooperative Toolkit,
Prepared for: Eva Clarke, Mattapan CDC & Faith Partnerships and MIT's Dept. for Urban Studies and Planning, Prof. J. Philip Thompson, Cambridge, MA: MIT, May 21, 2005.
tool-mattapan-youth.pdf (232KB)

Renee Ordeneaux, Danny Krouk, and Mitch Hough, Organizer's Handbook, second edition second edition, revised and updated by Brian Nagorsky, Eric Guetschoff, and Phil Ashton, Ann Arbor, MI: North American Students of Cooperation, 1997.
tool-nasco-housing.pdf (148KB)

Jim Gray, Jon Kelly, Terry Lewis, Jay Marcus, and Betsy Newcomer, Home Base: The Playbook for Cooperative Development, Washington, DC: NCB Capital Impact, 2006.
tool-ncb-housing.pdf (1.2MB)

Northcountry Cooperative Foundation, In Good Company: A Guide to Cooperative Employee Ownership, published by Northcountry Cooperative Foundation in partnership with Northcountry Cooperative Development Fund with special funding from the United States Department of Agriculture, Minneapolis, MN: Northcountry, 2006.
tool-northcountry-worker.pdf (492KB)

Margaret Lund, Solidarity as a Business Model: A Multi-Stakeholder Cooperatives Manual, Kent, OH: Cooperative Development Center at Kent State University, 2011.
tool-oeoc-multistakeholder-coop.pdf (7MB)

Karen Zimbelman, Orientation to Co-ops and to Wheatsville Co-op for Co-op Employees, Austin, TX: Wheatsville Food Co-op,
tool-wheatsville-food-coop.pdf (3.9MB)

For more information, see the Cooperatives Support Page in our Strategies & Models Panel.