Northwest Cooperative Development Center

NWCDC, a 501c3 non-profit, provides education and technical assistance to workers, producers, and consumers to support their efforts to start, support, and/or expand cooperatives. NWCDC promotes cooperatives as a vibrant business model to address the economic and social needs of communities. NWCDC fulfills this mission by:

• Educating the public, community institutions and government agencies to foster and promote an understanding of cooperatives.
• Identifying and disseminating information about successful practices and models for cooperatives.
• Providing technical assistance and education for the development of cooperatives to best address economic and social needs.
• Assist in the conversion of existing businesses to cooperative enterprises either through worker ownership or a multi-stakeholder (solidarity) model.
• Operates a revolving loan fund and partners with other co-op centric lenders to help facilitate the development of cooperative enterprises.

Communities throughout the Northwest are comprised of diverse people. NWCDC values and respects the identities of all. We are committed to maintaining an inclusive environment with equitable treatment for all. NWCDC acknowledges that we will always have room to grow as an organization and as individuals in our understanding of racism and oppression. We commit ourselves to ongoing alignment of our policies and practices to advance racial equity, inclusion, and freedom of expression.

Cultivating a staff team that embodies the diverse experiences of Northwest communities is essential to these aspirations. We strongly and sincerely encourage applications from people of color; immigrant, bilingual, and multicultural individuals; deaf people and people with disabilities; members of LGBTQIA+ and gender non-conforming communities; and people with other diverse backgrounds and lived experiences including those with criminal backgrounds.

We specialize in resident-owned communities, Home Care Cooperatives, and transitioning existing businesses to worker and community-owned cooperatives.