National Cooperative Bank (NCB) hosted a New Economy Roundtable Discussion at the Credit Union House. The discussion focused on lessons learned from Spain's successful Mondragon worker cooperative, on the benefits of the cooperative model and approach when finding economic solutions. The roundtable was held in recognition of Mondragon's Bank Laboral Kutxa's new agreement with NCB, highlighting how organizations working together can lead to greater success. Participants addressed such important questions as how to broaden ownership in the U.S. so workers can be part of the long-term strategy; how to replicate the work model with shorter development cycles; and ways to provide technical assistance and education to workers starting companies.
The roundtable brought together such great minds as: American Worker Project's Karla Waters; Tom Croft of Heartland Capital Strategies; Tom Conway- United Steelworkers International; John Cavanagh, Institute for Policy Studies; Liz Bailey, Cooperative Development Foundation; Zach Bernstein of American Sustainable Business Council; Ed Crego of CONSULT, Ltd.; Shelia Smith of The Barat Foundation; Paul Mica and Dan Mica of DMA Group; and NCB CEO Charles Snyder and colleague Barry Silver; as well as a delegation from Mondragon and Laboral Kutxa including Fernando De Landa, Michael Peck and Pio Aguirre A. De Arcaya, Oscar Mugerza Telleria, Josu Arraiza Mtz. De Lagran and Txomin Garcia Hernandez, respectively. Tags: