{"id":10472,"date":"2018-06-17T11:58:02","date_gmt":"2018-06-17T18:58:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/azaroff.com\/?p=10472"},"modified":"2025-09-24T15:52:55","modified_gmt":"2025-09-24T22:52:55","slug":"final-reflections-on-bologna-more-worker-co-ops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/azaroff.com\/?p=10472","title":{"rendered":"Final reflections on Bologna &#8211; more worker co-ops."},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote class=\"instagram-media\" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/Bjkk9uMlCcO\/\" data-instgrm-version=\"8\" style=\" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);\">\n<div style=\"padding:8px;\">\n<div style=\" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;\">\n<div style=\" background:url(data:image\/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC\/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5\/P8\/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo\/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI\/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf\/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p style=\" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/Bjkk9uMlCcO\/?img_index=1\" style=\" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">So many great images from our walking tour. #bologna2018 #vancitybologna<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;\">A post shared by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/wazaroff\/\" style=\" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> William Azaroff<\/a> (@wazaroff) on <time style=\" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;\" datetime=\"2018-06-03T17:50:42+00:00\">Jun 3, 2018 at 10:50am PDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async defer src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m back at home and making sense of all I\u2019ve learned and experienced over the last two weeks studying the co-operative sector in Bologna, Italy.<\/p>\n<p>Nine years ago, I attended this same program, and it opened my eyes to the role co-ops can play in our economy and started me down my path of greater involvement with co-ops. This trip has given me greater depth and language to describe the way co-ops act as a counter balance to some of the harmful effects of the market.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"instagram-media\" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/BkBWAOwF_LB\/\" data-instgrm-version=\"8\" style=\" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);\">\n<div style=\"padding:8px;\">\n<div style=\" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50.0% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;\">\n<div style=\" background:url(data:image\/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC\/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5\/P8\/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo\/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI\/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf\/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p style=\" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/BkBWAOwF_LB\/\" style=\" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Resist!<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;\">A post shared by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/wazaroff\/\" style=\" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> William Azaroff<\/a> (@wazaroff) on <time style=\" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;\" datetime=\"2018-06-14T21:57:57+00:00\">Jun 14, 2018 at 2:57pm PDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async defer src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>I have gained quite a lot of experience over the last few years working with businesses and organizations in impact sectors. I am very concerned with a few societal issues, chief amongst them income inequality, climate change, housing and rental availability and affordability in this region and making reconciliation a priority so that gaps that exist between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people finally start to disappear.<\/p>\n<p>Co-ops can be part of the solution to all of these issues.<\/p>\n<p>In BC, most co-ops I deal with are consumer co-ops. I came back from Bologna with a strong sense that many more worker co-ops are needed to help deal with these societal and environmental issues. We have some worker co-ops in BC, but it is a solution for many more people who want to self-organize to solve an issue or address a market failure.<\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s needed? Teaching the co-op model in our business schools, introducing policies friendly to people organizing worker co-ops, aligning partners in our incubators and business networks and creating education materials introducing the model to people thinking of starting a company. The model requires greater patience and care to work properly and won\u2019t be right for most entrepreneurs, but someone starting a company should know all the business structures, models and options open to them and not just the one prevalent corporate model in our economy.<\/p>\n<p>In parallel to promoting worker co-ops, there should be a greater focus on worker co-op succession, or Worker Buy Outs as they call them in Bologna. This model is timely as so many aging entrepreneurs will be looking to retire from their businesses over the next 10-15 years. If some of these are sold to their workers as a co-operative, it will share benefits and accountabilities in a way that should address inequality and keep established businesses in our community from failing.<\/p>\n<p>I feel very privileged I was able to attend this program again and deepen my understanding of co-ops, and walk away inspired to focus on worker co-op creation and succession as a key part of a more equitable and sustainable local economy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>So many great images from our walking tour. #bologna2018 #vancitybologna A post shared by William Azaroff (@wazaroff) on Jun 3, 2018 at 10:50am PDT I\u2019m back at home and making sense of all I\u2019ve learned and experienced over the last two weeks studying the co-operative sector in Bologna, Italy. Nine years ago, I attended this [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[239,240,190,171],"class_list":["post-10472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-bologna","tag-cooperative","tag-credit-union","tag-vancity"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p37qUH-2IU","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/azaroff.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/azaroff.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/azaroff.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azaroff.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azaroff.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10472"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/azaroff.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10472\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16625,"href":"https:\/\/azaroff.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10472\/revisions\/16625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/azaroff.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azaroff.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azaroff.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}