In Pittsfield, Massachusetts, a town whose population hovers around 42,000, a small co-op development body is trying to make a big difference. Created in 2017 by wife and husband Nicole Fecteau and Michael Hitchcock, Roots Dreams and Mustard Seeds aims to empower vulnerable community members through economic participation and ownership opportunities.
One of their most recent initiatives is the Ecuadorian Cleaning Cooperative, a workers’ co-op bringing together six women active in the cleaning sector. The group was enrolled on Roots and Dreams and Mustard Seeds’ Co-op Development 101 Class Sessions, designed to equip community members with the knowledge and skills needed to run co-ops. Along with eight other co-ops, they are now moving into Co-op Development 102, the programme’s second phase.
Originally from Ecuador, Johanna, Estefania, Silvia, Yadira, Grace, and Marilou were looking for additional work in Pittsfield, where they now live, when they met Hitchcock and Fecteau at a community space and food pantry run by Roots and Dreams and Mustard Seeds. After learning about the co-op model, they enrolled on the co-op development class.
“We started out with a much larger group of potential cleaners from among the population who attend our food pantry, but in the end, we ended up with just this team,” says Hitchcock.
Johanna adds: “We are six very enterprising women with a desire to progress and work hard. This kind of support is not available in our country of birth so we are really happy to be getting this kind of support in the USA.”
When asked what attracted them to the idea of setting up a co-op, despite not being familiar with this business model, Estefania says it was the thought that “it would be ours. We wouldn’t just be employees; it would be our co-operative”.
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“It’s very beneficial creating these co-ops because they allow us to grow as individuals and economically,” adds Yadira.
The six women have acquired their business certificate and liability insurance, and in early October started working their first commercial contract at St Stephen’s Church.
Getting to this point required them to pitch in US$100 (£77) each to buy the cleaning products needed to operate the business. Estefania admits that getting the start-up capital needed to acquire the products they required was a challenge. The vacuum cleaner they needed alone cost them around US$400 (£308).
“We were thrilled to have our first contract and to know that this is our business,” adds Estefania. The group is now accepting commercial and residential contracts in the Berkshire area. All continue to do extra work for private clients, but hope they can get more contracts in the future to dedicate themselves fully to the co-op.
The group had to attend many co-op development sessions and truly dedicate their time to the project. “For other women who want to set up a co-op, the most important advice is to be willing to take up the responsibility,” says Marilou.
As to the future, the six women hope to grow the business – for their own good and to spread the benefit by employing other women.
“Our objective is to obtain more contracts in the future. For now, we are just six women and have just one contract but in the future, we hope to grow the co-op and have more members,” says Marilou.
Silvia explains that growth is also about giving back to the local community. “We are all excited about this co-operative and we want to grow to be able to help more people so that they have the same opportunities that were given to us. We want to grow, which is why we are dedicating ourselves so much to this.”
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“My first advice to women in a similar position is that they should all be at the same level of professional development, and it’s easier if none of them have their own businesses,” says Hitchcock. “The hardest would be joining somebody else is independent business, and converting it to co-operative. Owners just are usually not capable of that. That’s not to say never, some owners are very dedicated to the idea and happy to become just another worker.
“My other advice to those in a similar position is to look at what they’re making now working for someone else and really think about the prices that customers are paying and the expenses of doing labour. It’s not that scary to quit your job and start something of your own because the overhead is so much lower When you’re not paying off an absentee owner who just wants to make money off the value of your work.”
Worker co-ops are on the rise in the USA, with 751 across the country, three times more than a decade ago. Around 25% of their worker-owners are from immigrant communities. The co-ops supported by Roots and Dreams and Mustard Seeds are 65% immigrant-led.
Hitchcock explains that in part this is because “traditional work is denied to most of them and they’re in a better position to understand the benefits of ownership”. He says the organisation’s approach is deliberately multiracial and multicultural, adding that he hopes the co-ops they are working with will inspire people from other backgrounds.
“This is our model group to demonstrate the power and potential of co-op ownership.”
In August, Roots and Dreams and Mustard Seeds was awarded a $179,000 (£138,000) grant by state-run MassDevelopment to acquire a soft-serve ice cream shop at 133 Fenn Street in Pittsfield and convert it into a worker co-operative. Named King Cone, the co-op sells ice cream on a “pay what you will” basis. Its team includes Afghan refugees, African Americans and Latino members.
Another grant allowed Roots and Dreams and Mustard Seeds to hire two bilingual co-op development staff members – a move that “has made such a huge difference,” says Fecteau, who, along with her husband, is also learning Spanish. A qualified sign language interpreter, she has been working as a community development worker since 2003.
“I think the most difficult hurdles for vulnerable workers is balancing family and work, including the very real struggles inherent in poverty, such as inflated rents which yield high displacement, a very serious concern for us here in Pittsfield and in the state of Massachusetts,” she adds.
These are issues the team members must deal with alongwide the hard work of setting up the co-op.
“Accessing necessary capital and technical skills for their businesses is also a hurdle,” says Fecteau. “We are trying to close as many of these gaps as possible through mutual aid support – like the Mercado De Vida free food market; trading child care; people-led mentorship classes in many skillsets for youth and adults; grant writing together for co-op start-up capital; co-op business programme classes to enhance technical skills; and 1:1 weekly team meetings to strengthen co-op teams.”
They are also retrofitting its community-owned building “for co-op needs such as the build-out of a shared commercial kitchen for La Cociberas Latinas, a people’s art gallery for the artisans co-op, and the ice cream shop for King Kone co-operative – all held within the 117-133 Fenn St building block we own together.”
A co-operative incubator or similar solidarity economy mutual aid group is especially helpful for women in vulnerable circumstances who want to build a worker co-op to empower themselves, adds Fecteau.
”Everyday business incubators often do not undertake the serious issues working class families in marginalised communities are undergoing, and create undue stress and expectations for those enrolled, causing them to give up or fail.
“Having an eco-system that is sensitive to the vulnerabilities of being working class, immigrant, BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Colour), disabled, impoverished and/or belong to other marginalised communities is key to creating successful outcomes for home grown co-operative business start-ups.”
- Those wishing to support the co-op or any other projects backed by Roots and Dreams and Mustard Seeds can donate online.
This article has been amended to clarify that Roots and Dreams and Mustard Seeds is based in Pittsfield. Nicole Fecteau and Michael Hitchcock live in the nearby hill town of Hinsdale.
