Cooperative Business Formation and Conversion

Developing effective structures for shared ownership and collective prosperity

Whether you're forming a cooperative from scratch or converting an existing business, we provide the legal experience to guide you through every step of the process.

Services offered:

Preparation and planning: We meet you wherever you are in the cooperative development process, offering resources to help you start on the right path.

Business formation: We assist cooperative members in selecting the most appropriate entity and structure that aligns with their long-term objectives. We also handle the drafting and filing of founding documents.

Establishing governance: We assist members in identifying the most suitable decision-making processes for their cooperative or group, and then create bylaws to formalize these processes.

Connecting cooperatives with financing: We assist cooperatives in finding friendly lenders that understand the cooperative model, connecting cooperators with business loans and financing for cooperative conversions.

When applicable, we connect clients with the resources that are available through our nonprofit network, including:

• U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives

• Sustainable Economies Law Center

• Virginia Cooperative Council

• New York City Network of Worker Cooperatives

• Cooperative Economics Alliance of New York City

• ICA Group

Learn more in our blog post:

How are Worker Cooperatives Different from Conventional Businesses?
(coming soon)