Congressman Chaka Fattah Spearheads Urban Cooperative Development Initiative

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – October 15th 2010 – Congressman Chaka Fattah (D-PA),
Chairman of the Congressional Urban Caucus, will lead a new initiative to support urban
cooperative business development throughout the United Sates.
Fattah, an eight term Congressman from Philadelphia, will partner with the National Cooperative
Business Association (NCBA), a Washington-based federation of cooperatives from all sectors
of the economy, and CooperationWorks! (CW), a national trade association of cooperative
development centers and individuals.
Rep. Fattah, Pennsylvania’s senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, said,
“Cooperatives provide an excellent means for economic development and community
enrichment.
“This new initiative is catching on in our cities and urban areas. The cooperative movement is a
perfect fit with the agenda of the bipartisan Congressional Urban Caucus and I am pleased to
provide this effort with a strong voice in Congress,” Fattah said. “These cooperatives will create
jobs and wealth by helping new local businesses that are owned and controlled by their
members.”
Cindy Bass, Senior Policy Advisor for Congressman Fattah, said, “Our office has a record of
working with the successful and well-established cooperatives in Northwest Philadelphia such as
Weavers Way food co-op. I will be assisting the Congressman as we help to advance urban
cooperatives and boost our national economy.”
The new initiative as outlined by representatives of NCBA and CW will include seeking
authorization of funds for technical assistance for urban cooperatives across the United States, an
effort to change Small Business Administration policies which currently prohibit participation by
cooperatives in federal small business loan guarantee programs, financial assistance for
cooperative business start-ups, and pilot programs in Philadelphia and other cities.
Lisa Stolarski, CW Urban Circle Chair, said, “A successful authorization of an urban cooperative
development program could pass Congress in 2011 and could potentially be appropriated as
early as 2012, the year declared by the United Nations as the International Year of
Cooperatives.”
Adam Schwartz, NCBA Vice President of Public Affairs and Member Services, said, “The
NCBA looks forward to working with Congressman Fattah and the co-op community in
developing an urban cooperative development program.”
According to a recent study, there are over 29,000 co-ops in the US employing over 2 million
workers, paying $75 billion in wages, with $650 billion in sales, and $3 trillion in assets.
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Modern day cooperative businesses trace their origin back to 1844 in Rochdale, England, when a
group of weavers and other skilled workers established a member-owned and member-controlled
retail food store. Their “Rochdale Principles,” which included the distribution of surplus on the
basis of patronage and cooperative governance on the basis of one member, one vote, have been
replicated widely.
Over the years, cooperatively structured businesses of various types have been established in
many countries around the world from small consumer retail food co-ops and worker-owned
entrepreneurial ventures to large agricultural purchasing and marketing co-ops; from housing coops
to credit unions.
Fattah Contact: Ron Goldwyn, Press Secretary, Philadelphia PA. Ph: 215.848.9386,
ron.goldwyn@mail.house.gov; http://fattah.house.gov.
CooperationWorks! Contact: Lisa Stolarski, Urban Circle Chair, Pittsburgh PA. Ph:
412.969.7896, stolarski@kdc.coop, www.cooperationworks.coop.
NCBA Contact: Adam Schwartz, Vice President, Public Affairs and Member Services, National
Cooperative Business Association, Washington DC. Ph: 202.383.5456,
aschwartz@ncba.coop, www.ncba.coop.
Philadelphia contact for CooperationWorks!: Bob Noble, Weavers Way Co-op
(www.weaversway.coop) and Keystone Development Center (www.kdc.coop). Ph: 215-
843-5647, bobnoble@kdc.coop. ###