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The Cooperative Growth Ecosystem: Inclusive Economic Development in Action

A DAWI and Project Equity framework for understanding the local and regional supports that help worker cooperatives grow.

Source: Democracy at Work Institute / Project EquityAdded June 12, 2026Published 2016
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Why it matters

Democratic organizations rarely scale alone; they need capital, training, policy, advisory support, and peer networks.

Best for

Cities, funders, cooperative developers, and ecosystem builders designing support systems for employee ownership.

This framework is especially valuable because it looks beyond individual businesses. It shows how worker cooperative growth depends on an ecosystem of aligned institutions and support functions. For Heirloom’s library, it helps explain why scaling democratic organizations is both an internal operating challenge and an external field-building challenge.

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Next readings

Continue through the reading paths that include this resource.

From Scaling ownership culture

Worker Cooperatives: Pathways to Scale

Study the barriers and success factors for worker co-op scale.

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