Co-ops are Big: Charles Gould, the Int’l Year of the Co-op
The R.E.I. storefront in Mountain View, California. Yes, R.E.I. is a coop.
Think you know what big business looks like? Think again. According to Charles Gould, Director-General of the International Cooperative Alliance, cooperatives are poised to be the fastest growing business model by 2020.
Values-based, community-supported and member-controlled, modern cooperatives have grown steadily since their inception in the late 1800s. Today, the top 300 cooperatives, or Global 300, generate as much revenue as the world’s ninth largest economy, or the economy of Spain. Meanwhile, new research shows that cooperatives worldwide have three times as many members as traditional businesses have shareholders — and provide 20% more jobs…(more… http://www.shareable.net/blog/co-ops-are-big-business-charles-gould-interview )
Leave a Reply