Please support passage of the Cooperative Development Act!

[OneGrassRoot]

New Congress, New Optimism

Congressman Chaka Fattah plans to re-introduce the National Cooperative Development Act later this week. With the new Congress, we will have a new bill number, a new slate of co-sponsors, and a new climate in DC. We remain confident in the ability of co-op supporters like yourselves to advocate for the passage of this important piece of legislation.

Contact your Member of Congress

The most effective way to advocate, is with an in-person meeting. Call the local office, and ask to speak with the staffperson who works on small business, and economic development issues. Tell them about the bill briefly and ask for a visit to explain the bill further, and to discuss co-ops in general.

Find your Representative's contact info at: https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml

Check out the campaign website for advice on how to advocate, or you can email or call me directly.


The National Cooperative Development Act will:

Catalyze cooperative development efforts in low to moderate income areas, both rural and urban, throughout the United States;

Give entrepreneurs the tools to create their own economic opportunities, building wealth for themselves and their community;

Grow the cooperative movement in communities that need the quality jobs, stable businesses, services, and community wealth creation that cooperative businesses of all kinds can provide;

Provide loans and seed capital to groups who are attempting to form cooperatives;

Award grants to nonprofit organizations, colleges, and universities so that they can provide technical assistance to operating cooperatives or groups that are attempting to form cooperatives;

Provide guidance, information on best practices, and technical assistance to communities seeking to establish cooperatives;

Provide funding for training of providers of technical assistance and supporting existing professional development training for organizations engaged in cooperative development; and

Establish cooperative development centers in areas that currently do not have them.


Spread the good news

Tell all of your fellow cooperators about this exciting bill, forward to your email lists and press contacts, talk about it on Facebook, and on Twitter use #HR3677. Be sure to send everyone to www.campaign.coop to join the campaign!

http://campaign.coop/node/24

[OneGrassRoot]

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