Photo: Marcin Wichary (CC-BY) 

Cat Johnson of Shareable writes about the Local Economies Securities Act (AB2751) and what it could do for investors and entrepreneurs in California. 

Photo Credit Gabrielle Lurie, Special To The Chronicle

Carloyn Said of the San Francisco Chronicle writes about regulations around selling home-cooking in California, and the movement to change regulations to allow platforms like Josephine to operate legally. SELC Policy Director, Christina Oatfield, is quoted in the article. 

Araz Hachadourian of Yes! Magazine covers the passing of a co-op resolution in Berkeley, CA which requires the city to create an ordinance that supports worker owned cooperatives. Sustainable Economies Law Center (SELC) Policy Director, Yassi Eskandari-Qajar, is quoted extensively about how worker cooperatives benefit cities and communities.

Cat Johnson of Shareable outlines four new developments in the seed sharing movement, including the introduction of legislation protecting seed sharing in California. 

SELC's Executive Director, Janelle Orsi, was interviewed on The Laura Flanders show, which will air on LinkTV Friday, 2/26/16, at 9:00pm in CA. The episode "Pirates, Hackers, and the Sharing Economy." 

Rosa Salter Rodriguez highlighted seed libraries and our advocacy work on behalf of seed libraries for The Journal Gazette in Indiana.

 
By: Courtney E. Martin
(Originally published September 25, 2015)

"Janelle is wise about small. In fact, she spends her days thinking about all of the ways we can navigate around, subvert, and change the laws that inhibit us from 'solving the most elementary problems of everyday existence,' i.e. create worker-owned businesses and other resilient and radical kinds of community organizations. (She also spends her days sketching out her ideas, as she’s literally the 'cartoonist-in-chief.')"

Read the full article on onbeing.org.

 By: Malcolm Burnley
 (Originally published September 22, 2015)

 "[O]n September 8th, the City Council made good with a ceremonious resolution 'supporting the development of worker cooperatives in Oakland.'

Among other items, the move recognized that these sorts of businesses — estimated to number between 300 and 400 nationally — offer wages and benefits above industry averages. The resolution, too, was a tacit acknowledgement from Council that the city will look for ways to support co-ops down the road . . .

What that municipal support might look like is to be determined. But in a draft ordinance authored by the Sustainable Economies Law Center (SELC), one of the organizing forces behind the referendum, the wish list for worker co-ops includes: getting the city to offer low-interest loans for converting traditional businesses into worker co-ops; preferential status to co-ops in the city contract procurement process; and waiving taxes and permit fees in the initial year of existence."

Read the full article on Next City

  By: Melissa Wen

"The Oakland City Council is considering a resolution to support an unconventional business model that some say can help fight income inequality in the East Bay. The resolution, which the council will review at its September 8 meeting, is aimed at encouraging the development of worker cooperatives, which are businesses that are owned and governed by employees, meaning workers share profits and tend to make above-average wages. 

"The Sustainable Economies Law Center (SELC), an Oakland-based nonprofit that worked with Councilmember Annie Campbell Washington on the resolution, said the measure is largely symbolic but hopes it will be a precursor to the passage of more concrete reforms that would incentivize the growth of these businesses in the city."

Read the full article on eastbayexpress.com

 By: Sara Stephens
(Originally published August 31, 2015)

"On Sept. 8, community members will pack Oakland City Hall to celebrate the City Council's groundbreaking resolution to support worker cooperatives as a powerful tool for economic development and democratic, empowering workplaces. The resolution will recognize the benefits that worker cooperatives bring to local economies, especially to Oakland, which is a national hub for such enterprises.

"Oakland will be one of the first cities in the country to integrate tailored support for worker cooperatives into its business assistance center.

"This resolution is a first step toward a broader worker cooperative development strategy. Following this event, the Sustainable Economies Law Center and partner organizations will work with Councilwoman Annie Campbell Washington and others in the city to pass an ordinance that creates meaningful incentives and investment in worker cooperatives."

Read the full article on insidebayarea.com