If you know anything about business, you know that there is a usual structure. There is someone at the top who is in charge. They hire workers. Then, depending on how big the business gets, come more levels of bosses and employees.
But co-ops, a business model that evens out those levels, is growing. Among them is Anyone’s Cafe and Bakery in Rochester.
“Anyone’s Cafe and Bakery is a vegan cafe and bakery. We serve a number of breakfast-focused items, such as our delicious breakfast sandwich or charcuterie cheese,” explained worker-owner Drew Langdon. “We’re also a worker co-op, so all employees of the business have the opportunity to buy into the ownership and be part of the decision-making.”
Prioritizing workers, their rights and wages was vital to Langdon.
“We actually syndicated the store we worked in that space,” he recalls.
When that location closed, he and four others started a co-op to ensure all employees had a voice.
“I don’t believe there’s any other way to do business,” Langdon explained. “This is the only way to develop the local community in a way that is sustainable.”
It had its challenges, including starting the business, having enough money to pay higher wages, and more. Langdon is the only one of the original founders still here.
“People are people, regardless of the setting they’re in, and making sure things run smoothly definitely takes a lot of talking,” he said.
But there was support.
“We wouldn’t be open if it wasn’t for Cooperation Buffalo,” Langdon said.
“Co-ops are not a new concept,” said Andrew Delmonte, executive director of Cooperation Buffalo. “[They’ve] has been around for several hundred years. Co-ops tend to pop up when there’s an economic downturn.”
Delmonte helps train new co-op owners through Cooperation Buffalo. In the past five years, they’ve seen a fivefold increase in worker co-ops in Western New York alone, from 2 to 10.
“This allows the people who should have a say in the business to be able to actively contribute and benefit from the work they do,” added Delmonte.
They offer loans to places like Anyone’s Café and Bakery and run a course each year called the Cooperative Academy.
“It’s for startups, so people who are just coming together for the first time,” Delmonte said. “We also have people in the class who sometimes convert existing long-standing businesses to worker ownership.”
With co-ops ranging from just a few worker-owners to those with thousands, Delmonte says half the battle is getting the word out.
“We don’t hear much about co-ops in mainstream business schools or in the news and things like that,” they said. “A lot of this work is just telling people that this is a valid and actually a pretty good way to do business.”
Langdon knows his business is still growing.
“Despite all our struggles, I think we’ve built a foundation,” he said.
Now, a year and a half later, Anyone’s Cafe and Bakery has its niche and a community of co-ops that has its back.
“Whether it’s positive and everything is working well, or there are little bumps, there’s always someone to talk to,” Langdon explained. “Cooperatives are always willing to share their knowledge.”
Building this change in the status quo has to start somewhere.
“As activists, we really get into a state of mind where we always, always have to direct our anger at the ‘powers that be,’ because that’s what’s needed, but it can’t be,” Langdon said. “We have to build alternatives so we’re not in this constant battle mode.”
Worker-owned are a type of cooperative. There may also be cooperatives run by customers, farmers, groups of businesses, and others.
Cooperation Buffalo says many of them, who have arrived in the past decade, are in traditionally low-wage jobs that include food service, health care and ride-sharing.
