Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Okay awesome alright so let's do some introductions.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): My name is Leslie Watson and I am dialing into you from beautiful minneapolis Minnesota and here in minneapolis I have been like I said i'm co op startup person okay.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): But I really got involved i'm involved with co OPS, for a long time, but I got involved in really being much more active than just a member.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): When I moved to my Community now over 20 years ago and got involved in the startup food co op that was underway here I kind of got in at the fun and just about a year and a half before we opened.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): And then, a few years after that actually almost 10 years ago to the day, a couple of co op people and a couple of other people like and I community and I.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): sat down and started having coffee to think about whether or not we could cooperate.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): form a cooperative to do something about some distressed real estate on our commercial corridor and that co op eventually turned into the Northeast investment cooperative.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): which I know some of the people on this call have heard of and and because I know you and I know you've talked about it before and then some folks have never heard of so I want to talk a little bit about any ice today.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): And also just kind of talk about the development process for real estate development.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): And for me all those years of volunteering finally turned into employment, and those co OPS, and so these days i'm a consultant, with a consulting cooperative.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): called illuminate and we work with food co OPS and other kinds of crops actually all around the country and I work, primarily in governance supporting boards of directors.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): But I also have the real pleasure of occasionally doing being able to do some work on other kinds of project co op projects here in Minnesota and Wisconsin particular.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): through cooperative development services and that's how i'm here today, I believe i'm not sure if he's here yet, but I know the Executive Director of CDs Kevin edberg planning to be here today.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): And so along you know I sometimes Kevin tasks we to help out on some projects and this real estate development development cooperative work.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): is being funded through CDs, as well as the University of nebraska at Lincoln and so i'm going to turn it over to Charlotte my co pilot here to introduce herself.
Charlotte Narjes: Thanks Leslie i'm Charlotte largest time in Lincoln nebraska and i'm.
Charlotte Narjes: work at the University of nebraska nebraska co op development Center and our Center does a lot of just general type introduction of Coco co OPS and helping people get started, for the most part, although we really do a lot in the area rural grocery stores.
Charlotte Narjes: My background is primarily been in Community development and helping communities move forward on projects and vision, but the last two years, I moved over to the cooperative world.
Charlotte Narjes: and have learned a lot and part of that I feel fortunate, and I know Kevin when he sent it to the cooperators was.
Charlotte Narjes: Was announcing his leadership seminar that he does that's where I met him and many other people in the area and if you're new to cooperatives I highly recommend getting connected, the cooperation works and groups like that to learn things.
Charlotte Narjes: Anyway, the first almost one of the first groups that came to us and we have one person at least here from the actress nebraska was in regards to forming an investment cooperative, so I reached out to Kevin and.
Charlotte Narjes: He connected me with Leslie and we are you going to learn what we've discovered, I guess, over the last year, I did want to add one other thing.
Charlotte Narjes: Leslie mentioned that the University of nebraska and CDC are sponsoring this, but this this is through role Crawford of development Center grant with usda and just wanted you to wreck thank Thank you Margaret here, thank you for that funding.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Thanks Charlotte.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): So i'm going to just give you a quick rundown of what we're going to talk about today we're going to tell you just a little bit more about the project that we're working on.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): And then we're going to touch on what exactly is a real estate Development Co op just give a little background on that for those for whom it's a new concept.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): And then really the heart of the work that we've been doing and what we want to share with you today is this emerging i'm calling it a beta roadmap or timeline for rural for i'm sorry real estate development cooperative development so kind of a process.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): To think about how we could go about establishing these things, and then we'll end by telling you about the field guide that we're working on publishing and the resources and where you're going to be able to find those a little bit later this summer.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): And then we'll we're saving hope to save a lot of time for Q amp a so along those lines.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Charlotte is going to be minding the chat so please along the way, if you have any questions feel free to type them into the chat.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): will also have time at the end for you to come off mute or you know type additional questions in the chat but we're going to try to save questions for the end.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): If there's something really urgent urgent and compelling you know, Charlotte will flag it for me, I hope, and it's got me I can kind of get on a roll here but i'm super happy to.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): You know, take things up that really needs to be clarified in the moment but otherwise we'll we'll try to save our questions, for the time of the end.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): So while we get rolling to just for our own benefit to it's really helpful.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): To hear, not just to hear who you are and your organizations in the chat and have that little record of that.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): But also love to have people just share briefly in the chat again what brought you to this webinar what's your interest, why did you decide to come and spend 75 minutes today zoom so you know, please feel free to share that and in the meantime we'll get launched with our session.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): um so just briefly about the project so.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): The northeast investment co op, as I said, is 10 years now since we first started thinking about it, and you know any I see actually successfully launched a project, and I got a certain amount of attention.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): And, in the wake of that attention it prompted a lot of inquiries like an enormous number of inquiries from people all around the country, and even beyond.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): And I have probably spoken to 50 maybe 60 people and groups over the years about any ic.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): To just try to tell the story to help people you know, think about this kind of unusual way of cooperating and how they might do it and.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): The thing that I have found is that there are some groups that have one of them's on here the Vermont real estate call that I didn't know about.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): But you know, there are some groups that have made some progress, but there hasn't been like a huge amount of traction.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): And I know that cooperating is hard and it takes a long time, and that may explain it, but I also thought well, maybe the story isn't.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): enough people need something more a roadmap, or some resources to help them, maybe find their way, a little bit better so that's really what this project is about to try to sketch out the beginning of those kinds of resources.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): And Charlotte I don't know if you want to share a little bit about the address and how the actresses.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Really, in part of this process right now.
Charlotte Narjes: Sure, I apologize.
Charlotte Narjes: Just a little bit of technical glitch here my keyboards not working so i'm getting into my iPad.
Charlotte Narjes: So it will be fine safari we actress is a town that's about 2030 miles south of Lincoln and the Community really wanted to form a cooperative.
Charlotte Narjes: To help improve their downtown and engage people they actually came to us Beatrice did we did not seek them out, and it was because their Community identified creating that sense of place and moving it forward.
Charlotte Narjes: And it's been exciting getting to know their interest, but they found the Minnesota cooperative online and that's what led them to move this direction.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): And so, this idea of the Roadmap really emerged last year when we really last year and then obviously you know the pandemic happen and that slowed our progress.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): But it's also been quite challenging for me to find the right level of guidance to offer to people because.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Any I see exists and it's you know successful, and still is operating and there are a handful of other examples, both before and after any ice, but the truth is that all of them are somewhat different.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): And even taken collectively the small anecdotal you know collection of examples do not create a model, and I think recognizing that there still isn't a model that has freed me to say, well, I can maybe offer.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): I can only tell people how to do this for their particular need their particular community their particular purposes, but what I can do is.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): share some thinking about process that, hopefully, will you know, as I said earlier, kind of maybe help people get rolling so you know one thing that I just i'm really just you know, in some ways, I think, just really offering this little caution, which is that you know.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): We we can we can sometimes see one successful example of something and think that it holds the answers, and I think what i've recognized, is that it doesn't hold the answers that holds a lot of questions and it holds perhaps some.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): insights and things that we can glean from them, but we are actually all learning together right now.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): what it takes to cooperate to develop real estate and that was a very freeing recognition for me, and so I you know i'm just in a place where i'm we're going to offer what we can and invite input and collaboration from others along their journey as well.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): So um I want to just share a little bit, especially those who are new to this, what exactly is a real estate Development Co op and actually if we're talking about a journey like starting.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): On what is a Co op and what is a real estate co op is the right first step on that journey.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): So this is not if you've been to presentations with me before i'm not going to do the fdic you know story, but i'm going to tell you just a little bit about me, I see the Northeast investment co op so this co op is he said form 10 years ago.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): To address some deterioration along our main commercial corridor and the question we had was whether could Community Members come together form a Co op get enough money to make something happen.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): We actually acquired in rehab rehabilitated the first building with in about 18 months after forming it's currently least to a brewery a cooperative brewery actually at a bakery i'm no longer on the board, but the fdic board has accomplished a second project.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): least just this last year to a home repair company just a small commercial building so but two successful projects there.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Any I see has a membership of $1,000 so that's like the real foundation of the capital base for that co op.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): And currently there are almost 300 members and the club actually is really in solid financial footing and has over 500,000 hundred thousand dollars in equity on its balance sheet right now.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): So, so one example of a Co op or Community members came together make something happen and so far, so good, is what I would say about nyc um so.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): uh so there's a real estate Development Co op now let's kind of break it down to even a more essential.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): You know piece and really think about what actually is a Co op right because our purpose here is to get beyond me any ice story and to really.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): You know, think about the different ways in which these kinds of co OPS could evolve and what it takes to get there.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): So when I start with that question I work with startup food co OPS actually mostly these days.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): But no matter what kind of co op I always like to start with that internationally accepted definition of a Co op, and here it is.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): very familiar, probably to some of the people on this call, and maybe not so familiar to others.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): But a Co op is an association of people who come together to meet some kind of common need through an enterprise that they own and control together right and the two pieces that I always like to lift up.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): From this definition, are those two dimensions of association and enterprise and it's really important for real estate Development Co OPS, and actually any kind of co op that I work with.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): to recognize that people are coming together to make something happen that they really want that might be tied to a.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): deeply felt need or a passion, or a vision for what they want their world to look like.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): But they're using a business to do it, and so the Co op kind of has to straddle or balance those tensions between the aspirations of the people who gather to make something happen.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): And the fact that it's not a nonprofit and that's actually operating as a business in the marketplace.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): And so you know that's not good or bad and, in fact, you might watch, you might say that is good because it offers opportunity, but just recognizing that is an important part of.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Thinking about co OPS, and certainly an important frame to bring to whether or not to we should form a Co op to do real estate development because you very much, will be operating in the marketplaces and do that.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): So a simpler, maybe like a little bit simpler stripped down definition of a Co op.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): That I can offer to you is that it's a business owned and operated by the people who use its products and services and who benefit from that right.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): And you know the kind of a way of thinking about the essential features of a cooperative are to.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): recognize that it requires Member equity Bolsa capital that Members bring to the business to get it started, like any owner would, as well as the equity that they build over time from using the business and supporting it with their patronage.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): We know already have recognized that Members control this business in some way democratically control it to her takes different forms, but that's a feature of it.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): And that the business, as I said before, really needs to benefit members.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Now for a real estate development whoa up like this may seem, you know really obvious and it's actually this triangle, I have found is not as easy and simple to draw as geometry good subjects.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): and part of that is that the equity piece for the business, you know real estate development is requires a lot of capital so there's something to think about there.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): But the other one I think that's really interesting to think about is what sorry little too far, is what is the benefit.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): That we are actually striving to create with a real estate development cold if it's a food co op it's obvious, we want to have a grocery store, so we can go and buy groceries.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): And if it's a housing co op well, we want to own this property together so that we can live there and have our homes there.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Depending on what the real estate Development Co op is about, and certainly in any ice case there's a little bit of a dis association between the direct benefit to the members of that business.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): operate in developing excuse me, developing real estate that they don't occupy and they don't use, but they brought their capital to right and.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): The way in which you know co OPS normally think about Member views and Member benefit.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): So grappling with the question of the benefit that this co op exist to create is actually a key part of the development process.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Indeed it's really one of its first steps and the truth is like with all kinds of co OPS and most human endeavors your mileage can certainly value that very and I think one thing that I have really recognized.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Over the last few years and talking with folks who are interested in this model that there are actually different flavors of real estate development costs.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): So i've kind of come to come to some very loose informal categories of those and I just want to share those with you and actually i'm going to ask Charlotte to chime in with some examples, because she and I have been looking at these together.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): So the first flavor that I want to offer to you is kind of an investment club favor and flavor and that's where maybe a small group of people.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): weren't really thinking about including the whole Community, but a smaller group of people can be really focused and they actually have the ability to aggregate the resources to make something happen, and they want to cooperate into it and we actually have an example of that.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): trial and error if you want attendance.
Charlotte Narjes: Thanks Leslie the example is the same gouda opportunity development corporation, that is in Canada saying good is actually a Hamlet that, with a population of about 309 people an hour and a half from edmonton Canada, they have a service area that is.
Charlotte Narjes: Approximately 1000 people they had a real sense of urgency to take things in their own hands and the co op was formed in 2009 to stimulate business and investment opportunities in the Community.
Charlotte Narjes: The local people wanted to invest their money in local businesses and the co op was the way to do it.
Charlotte Narjes: They started out with 22 members that invested $220,000 and they have worked with the meat processing company and a coffee shop and then, when I talked to him recently Margaret I saw that you wanted to have.
Charlotte Narjes: An update on that they were working on some other businesses and then they've also worked with had some houses, but in some there a community that there was a small group of people that really wanted to work and help.
Charlotte Narjes: That area grow, they have benefits identified in Community and in membership their Community an example would be enhanced, to social and economic well being of citizens, by supporting the development of new and existing businesses.
Charlotte Narjes: And when it comes to the membership more providing opportunity to invest in your community.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Thanks Leslie so 22 people who came together in this release small town to first meet a need that was you know.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): I think well identified as I understand their co op and has since expanded to be more more comprehensive for the whole Community.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): So you know you know they're genuine cooperative they're not an investment club that's just really term that i'm throwing on that to try to give a flavor of what that smaller group might look like.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): The next flavor that I offer is a Community DIY, and this is where i'm thinking Oh, you know, and not just a small group of people, but really more of a Community wide focus.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): So membership is invited from the broader community and there is a focus on capital also being kind of DIY from the Members themselves right so.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): So looking to pool capital together within the Community and that really is the any ice story that's how I would think of any icy.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): And I think the actress has a flavor of that as well as a distinct flavor, that is, the flavor of the actress and maybe one difference.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Is that you know, Charlotte maybe you want to just briefly share, you know that difference and kind of how the actress got started versus how we know any ice got started.
Charlotte Narjes: Yes, thanks Leslie be altos really started from their mainstream mainstream group.
Charlotte Narjes: Where they were wanting to focus on private ownership Community positive perception Community having a sense of place where it came from an entity that first sparked the fire and reaching out to other people to get involved.
Charlotte Narjes: So what they really have already identified some initial themes and pride and ownership is one of them, the Community positive perception Community having a sense of place.
Charlotte Narjes: pride and completion that start striking out to do, project and completing it.
Charlotte Narjes: And then looking on the return on investment they really want to look at this as the long run, and of how Community Members can be a part of this, we do have a person from be actress here that.
Charlotte Narjes: Lorraine, if you want to share some things in the chat that would be out other things have to the reason the actresses moving this route, that would be great.
Charlotte Narjes: They really are in the key organizational stage and, as mentioned earlier, we were working.
Charlotte Narjes: reached out to Leslie actually in 2019 but with the we were just ready to start Community meetings last January, when in February, when covert yet and we're starting over now or not really starting over and moving forward, but regrouping great thanks for that.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): So just a difference if you heard it is that you know it's not a huge difference, but.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): The actress at least the spark of interest came from a group that was focused on like economic development or mainstream development as opposed to just a bunch of people getting together over coffee.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): You know functionally I think it's just a bunch of people getting together over coffee, but it is a little bit of a distinction between them and the next apple example that I just want to touch on is.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): A you know, a real estate Development Co op that's really focused on wealth building for the Member occupants so by providing stable access to space for them.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): opportunities to build equity for them and I actually view I mean housing co OPS are like this and also resident on communities are really like this, so.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Like we you know over these years of talking about any I see we haven't really thought about Rocker resident on communities as being real estate Development Co OPS, but they actually are, and so.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): The difference there is that it's the people who live there and occupy the space, who are going to benefit from that and who are the Members who have the control and ultimately you don't have to find the capital.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): So that's another difference, I just want to lift up and then the last one i'll just offer is Community wealth building and what I mean by that is when a Community says let's get some real estate let's get some control over some real estate here let's.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Get the Community involved in some self determination.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Maybe it's a focus against gentrification maybe it's about needing a Community wide need.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): But the focus is really not trying to necessarily aggregate the capitals from the Community Members themselves because maybe that's not possible, maybe there's not enough resources.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): So we still need to find capital, of course, we need to find a strategy that decoupled capital from Member control and one example of that that would that we're aware of is the East Bay permanent real estate cooperative and Charlotte where you going to.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): mention that did you have a little some to share, about that one.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): you're on mute.
Charlotte Narjes: Yes, a little bit on the east bay and this was the one that like that Leslie said that we're most familiar with that has helped.
Charlotte Narjes: It was formed at the people of color sustainable housing network.
Charlotte Narjes: Excuse me read the wrong thing I wanted the East Bay permanent real estate cooperated was born out of the collaboration between the people of color sustainable housing network and the sustainable economies of law Center.
Charlotte Narjes: It really was designed to build intentional healthy collective and affordable housing communities in the Bay area and beyond.
Charlotte Narjes: And, by supporting the creation, creation of indigenous low income and people of color lead housing and land projects that focus on collective mind ownership and stewardship.
Charlotte Narjes: there's been a lot of success with the East Bay per project, and I, and I know saw in the chat there's a lot of interest around the real estate housing.
Charlotte Narjes: Leslie, so I think as we're looking forward that may be more information will want to make sure we include in our guide in the future as well, because.
Charlotte Narjes: Right now, this is just a flavor So if you can answer specific questions on that, but that's not you know some of those specific questions we weren't planning to address completely.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): yeah but the questions are really important, even if we can't answer them today they're really important because we're doing this is a longer haul project, so thank you for asking them and we'll see where we can get at the end of the session
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Alright, so here's our four flavors and there are multiple other flavors too right, so this is just to give a.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): window into how how we're kind of thinking about this and really depending on the flavor of cooperative one thing we know is that a lot of things are going to vary so obviously the purpose and the beneficiaries of the co op.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): The development process and the timeline is going to look different how we think about communication and our slit investment club co op isn't going to have to think as expansively maybe, at least, that the get go.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): around you know reaching because we're reaching into Community for membership, even if they may of course meeting dignity for by in.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): The way that we govern ourselves all these kinds of things are going to be really different and that's kind of what makes it challenging to offer single roadmap.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): So I feel like i'm offering excuses for myself when I don't have all the answers for you, I don't know the answer for you so i'll just own it.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): And yet there are some answers at least some guidance to be had because the other thing that we know is that every flavor still requires some search similar ingredients.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Commitment and time is the first one, and we cannot create a roadmap to give people the commitment and the time that it takes to start a cooperative.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): that's just not possible, but what a roadmap and a process can do is can help you it can help your time that you spend a large amount of time that you spend hopefully be more efficient and focus so.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): But you know just like as a get going and recognition that caught development takes commitment and time it's a really important one, and it doesn't matter what flavor you're working on.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): You need to build collaborative ways of working with other people, you need leaders and you need you know collaborators together.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): there's a lot of knowledge and learning to be done along the way.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): For any I see, and I think for a lot of co OPS friendly State law is something that you actually need.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): This kind of cooperative, at least as any ice is constituted and some of the other ones that we know are have an existence are not possible in every state.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): So just one big takeaway cooperatives are creatures of State law and what isn't isn't possible is going to be determined by the scope of your state's Cooperatives Statute so that's just something to know.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): As you can get into the process and figure out fast, you need Members, you need money and you need a plan So these are all shared agreements and that really brings us to this desire to.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): begin to give some kind of a tool for working through a process through this field guide and to establish this roadmap.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): and
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): What I would say is that, as I think about it, so I am really informed by my experience with any ice so you're going to hear that and I, you know.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): that's just that's what I know so that's how I describe it, but the other place where I go for development and thinking about development of Community focused.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Who co OPS is actually from the food co op world, and then the food co op world be benefited for many years from a development model, called the four cornerstones in three stages.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): It was actually developed maybe like 20 years ago Kevin if you're here you just type in the chat how long ago, the four cornerstones model came about, but actually.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Through folks who were part of CDs at that time put together this development model and it's endured pretty well over the years for food co OPS.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Like any model, you know as Scott it's like there's a variations and the flavors and how you work through it, but as a systematic way of thinking about working toward caught development I think has been really useful and so.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): I it's how I was trained in co op development and how I think about it, and so you're going to see that language in the spirit of the four cornerstones in three stages model show up.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): In the Muslim a simple simplified fashion and what i'm about to share with you today so.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): let's sequencing that i'm going to describe flows from you see this.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): You see three stages here organizing in the middle and then an assessment of feasibility and planning stage and then an implementing stage and those three stages i'm calling them phases, for the roadmap, but.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): You know, really pretty similar and then around this model, you see the four cornerstones of vision talent capital and systems and what this tool called development model tells us is that we need to pay attention.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): To the core competencies and resources and all of these areas at the right level and focus as we move through the stages of development, so you know.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): it's just to me a very helpful and comprehensive way of thinking about what it takes to build these kinds of businesses cooperative businesses from Community so so I just want to give a very, very huge tip of the hat to that model because it's an inspiration for me.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): So as i've been thinking about how to put together a resource to help people visualize.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): The development, as I said, i'm really thinking of these this this model so a phase one of organizing phase two of planning a phase three of implementing.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): And then, a face for a sustaining and thinking about what you know what's our projects done what's going to happen in any AC has certainly grappled with that so here it isn't a little bit longer version.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): which you cannot see, but this is this, you know this will be available as part of the resource guide just for people to have something to look at in a snapshot so.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): With the rest of our time here before the Q amp a i'm actually just going to kind of walk through these phases and share them with you, hopefully they'll spark some questions from you, hopefully they'll maybe be relevant to some of the questions folks are already asking.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): And what I would say is that you know this webinar in some ways, is about like introducing you to a resource that we're working on.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): So we hope it's valuable on its own right but also super valuable to us is your feedback on how this lands for you for those who are involved in developing these kinds of things now.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): For those who are just at the beginning of learning on what they're about or maybe those who have been through co op development process for other entities super helpful to get your feedback because.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): You know that's going to inform the ultimate product that we come up with all right, so we just.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): focus in here on phase one organizing, and so we began with organizing and organizing really begins by grappling with that fascinating and inspiring question of what benefits are we here to create.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): What is the purpose for this cooperative what flavor are we, after so that we can deliver goodness to the people that we want that we want that, for our Members right.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): So some kind of need in the Community from what i've seen is is what sparks interest in a real estate Development Co op identifying that need and articulating the vision for how we're going to meet that need really is.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): The heart of where the work begins.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): That you don't you don't check that box and then say okay well we've done that, and now we're done that work is evolving and you refine it as you go along, but getting clear about what you're about before you begin.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): turns out is a really good idea.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): So what might that look like well in communities, you know it might be the need for the real estate development costs often as really obvious when you walk down the street could be that empty lot that we see or that CAFE burned down, you know 15 years ago and Main Street.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): could be that board it up old amazing theater that we just know could be the best performance venue if only someone would fix it up.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): could be the proliferation of kind of dollar stores that have pushed out local businesses and the sort of paying that that creates for us, of all the viability of our own commercial district in the Community, where we live could be some long vacant businesses with that were you know.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): had one point and anchors of the Community and became empty shells, this is actually these are actually the buildings that any ic.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): worked on in partnership with a with another business, so this was our old yeller is what motivates me I see in many ways to to make something happen.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): And it could be that you know the real estate Development Co op the spark of the idea is that we need to get some capital together so that we can focus on creating opportunity and wealth building.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): For other members of the Community, whether it's a bypass Community or you know rural community or some combination thereof.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): So those can be other kinds of strong motivators for people wanting to figure out how to get their hands on some real estate and make some space to support people and.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): I don't know if there's i'm sure that you do you want to jump in and i've already shared a little bit about the actresses we thought.
Charlotte Narjes: Just following along with that is like think when I think the organizing need and vision within the actress is that importance of getting the shared meaning.
Charlotte Narjes: And so that you can communicate the message, and you are articulating that over and over and as you're doing that and getting clarification, so that people do.
Charlotte Narjes: Investment, for it to me that's that's one of the things that's been a real observation there of how important that is to get that shared meaning of what you're wanting to do and and and understanding that.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): And so that's like let's call it step one and phase one, maybe, and so I just want to describe some of the other components of organizing.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): As I I think they show up in this in this real estate space so some of the other things that you're going to be focused on during this early phase is certainly building a team of people and.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): You know the purpose is going to inform decisions and work in all of these other areas, so the right team of people isn't necessarily going to be the like for any ice we had.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): We had an architect we hadn't called Community organizers me as Co op people we had someone who was in the business trip in the building trades.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): You know, and that was a really good fit for what we were doing, and you know another group may need some other aggregation of talent, I already saw.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): thomas's comment you always need the lawyers and it comes as well.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Lisa help me to serve on the board, but you know you need you do need some technical help and talent, that will help specific skills that will help you work through the process for sure the team isn't necessarily like.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Just the task force or that group of people who are meeting regularly but really you know being intentional about who you recruit to it.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Even as you walk on people with energy and interest is so important, I mean committed to that to set a good culture right away, including that includes you know really paying attention to what it takes to be collaborative together.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): You know, investing in that and thinking about that and being able to talk about how we hold each other accountable, how we build credibility with each other and how we build trust with our Community.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): You know I just think it's important for any endeavor in this one, that which is probably going to be like unique and special and ask your community to stretch in ways I think it's especially important.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): there's learning that happens in this organizing phase, you know co OPS have traditionally always begged and begged on education and training and.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): This new form of cooperative is no no exception to that.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): So you need to learn about co OPS and need to learn about other entity choices, especially of co OPS end up being not the best choice for you, but you still want to do something or not possible because of your State law.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): You need to learn about real estate, believe it or not, and it's really good to understand Community something about Community development, whether people are wearing that directly or they're bringing in experts to help them understand that so important.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): pay attention even at this early phase before you have a board before you're you know doing official minutes but paying attention to building organizational capacity is a key component of successful organizing.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): That means like having regular meetings of some kind, where you know I mean ad hoc meetings happen, but having schedules having expectations of each other.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): You know, having plans for outreach that are actual plans and not totally ad hoc again I don't dismiss ad hoc at all ad hoc is very important, as well as part of networking.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): But really being thoughtful about the message that you're bringing forward to your community, even in the early phases before you're asking anybody to write any checks.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): or make any commitments is important and then that administrative capacity, I find that you know whether it's a food co op or a real estate Development Co op or you know any other kind of Community initiative.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): A lot of time can get taken up and just figuring out, who has the checkbook.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): who's doing the thing who's bringing the coffee who's maintaining the Member list, and those are all really important parts of organizing.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): And you can you know your foot your your mileage may vary your flavor may may vary, but one thing that I have often thought is especially.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): And maybe some of the folks on this call actually have had this experience now but i've often thought what for me, I see would have been so great, if we had had like a.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): neighborhood organization that actually had staff and computers and maybe someone who knew how to build a website.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Like partner with us in those early stages, so have we had we'd found a way to meet that administrative needs early on, through partnership that could have been really helpful, but maybe not it was good for us that we did it on our own.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): But just paying attention to it, making sure that it's happening, however, you mean it is really important, as you build the infrastructure for an organization.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Of course, you need to engage community, both within the organizers networks and then beyond their knowledge networks, because we can artificially.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): can find our networks by only getting to talk to the people we already know right.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): You might have you know planning for some early Community info sessions to kind of test the idea and thinking about our social media presence, all these things are part of organizing comes to no surprise if you've ever engaged in any kind of community organizing it looks very familiar.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): there's a piece in the organizing phase like you're not you know, nobody signed in any bank loan taken on any bank loans or anything like that, but there is a piece of really assessing preliminary feasibility as a disciplined.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): activity that you undertake that is important for testing.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): do well, first of all, importantly, does the State Law permitted a Co op, and this is a great time to call in one of those lawyers to help you and figure that out with any ice definitely did that as well.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Is there enough Community interest, and then, even though we don't actually fully know how all the numbers would work out on the back of an envelope, can we begin to imagine a do we know enough to at least sketch out like what it might take.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): And what it might net if we were to do some kind of investment somewhere so some kind of back of the envelope numbers to just think that through.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): And again, you don't have to have certainty, but if you have enough like sense that of the possible and you're building enough, you know capacity and substance to the organization, then you may well find yourself.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): kind of coming to the end of the organizing phase, which is when you would actually be able to form the Co op.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): So you'd say you know what co OPS going to work, and we think it's worth continuing and so lets you know you may have done your articles of incorporation that's kind of a.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): pretty easy tick the box kind of thing you might have done that a little earlier, but you know, in some way you would like actually burst the organization officially as a corporate entity.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): So by law is in which would then those kind of cascading effect, now we have we have a board of directors, we figure out how we're going to kind of manage the work of the organization and a really important.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): thing to take up for this kind of co op in particular any kind of co op but what does the membership program actually going to look like.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): What does it take for people to sign up what does it cost for people to sign up how are we, representing that what while keeping our options open for flexibility for how we're going to actually fund the capital.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): acquisition all of that is important part, but if you get far enough along and you can actually begin to answer some of those questions, I would say you are organized right.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Now this stuff is not like totally sequential things happen, a little bit out of phases, sometimes for sure, but I just think as a kind of tick the box working through how are we doing in each of these broad categories.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): I think it's just helpful to get a picture of what it looks like to organize and so with that done then we move on next to planning.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): So i'm planning is like for some people what they wanted to do from day one.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Which is to actually like look at some buildings let's do a search for some buildings, you know, and you may do a little bit of that in organizing case for sure, because you gotta have some fun, but planning is a really.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Again, a more disciplined and intentional process around that and what I would say first about the planning is that.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Probably won't surprise you, I told you, I was a governance person.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): But you know really paying attention to those systems to set yourself up for your planning to go well and be effective, is really important, so groups that pay attention to their systems and their infrastructure.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Just tend to function better so sometimes you know, this is a lat admin financial outreach governance, sometimes there is enough volunteer energy to get all this stuff none.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): But sometimes, as I said before, even around that early admin you know help somebody.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Sometimes finding other resources in the Community to help you do some of this stuff whether it's a Member who might volunteer to manage the database, or maybe even you get a little grant to fund some contract help or something like that.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): That can be really helpful for building systems, but you need people who are.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): see themselves as leaders of the organization to help both make decisions and oversee that and really function as the leaders of the organization and that is part of your system so paying attention to your governance.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): and your delegation and your accountability, as part of your systems, along with kind of the more technical aspects of that.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): So in the planning phase now, this is the fun part that I mentioned the evaluating potential projects.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): is definitely a huge piece of us, you see my Yang Yang showed up again here so doing that, with a mind toward mission fit.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Doing that the mind toward our systems and capacity and then doing that, with a mind toward real financial viability is all part of that evaluation.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): One tool that we are working to refine to offer as part of this little field guide and packet of resources.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Actually grows out of a tool that we use for any ice and it's like I kind of snapshot feasibility analysis, so this is no By no stretch of the imagination is this a full blown like pro forma you know.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): anything like that, but what it is, is just a tool, where you can kind of plug in some values.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): and make some adjustments on your own and see like what is our rate of return here, what is our when you know at what level of debt service do we cash flow based on assumptions around you know lease lease rates and stuff like that.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): So, again so just be offered as a spreadsheet for people to play with as they wish and we're doing some getting some professional eyes on it and make sure that it's.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Road tested a little bit, but it's this kind of tool and getting serious enough about it that you're really bringing discipline to it, as opposed to just kind of going with your gut.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): That it shows that I think you're doing genuine feasibility planning feasibility analysis for a project, because it really is necessary.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): for you to if you're gonna you know ask people to invest their money and asked community to invest their trust as tenants to bank on you when they.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): put their business in their hands if they're going to be, you know renting from you, then you know you really have an obligation to make sure that there's a reasonable opportunity.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): likelihood of success.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): next step.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Partnerships super important another your mileage may vary moment nonprofit developers city planners neighborhood groups Community activists who does it look like, who is it that's just totally going to vary.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): But it's a big heavy lift to do this kind of thing and finding the right partner to do it together with may well be part of how your flavor of real estate Development Co op makes it happen.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): During this planning phase he'll be starting to look at financing, so you know, certainly there's co op friendly lenders out there.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): If you can't find any cloud friendly lenders then you're going to need to put in some legwork to convince the skeptics.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): When any I see was in its formation Stage one of the bank, we talked to a lot of banks Community banks and this megan that thing we talked to a credit union.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): said, you know what we don't really like to invest in co OPS, which was like kind of a dagger to the heart because.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Things are co OPS, but you know, so you just have to you know, accept that you're going to look like risky in some ways and you're a bunch of hear about if if your model is kind of a bunch of volunteers trying to figure something out.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): You are going to you know, probably need to do a little more work to convince someone that your.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Credit worthy.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): The other thing it's actually not placed here, it should be it kind of as a bridge between partnerships and exploring financing, but there may well be an opportunity to tap into.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): grant funding or other kinds of supportive funding to help you make something happen.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): And in the planning phase, you will figure out what the implications of being cooperative are for being able to.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): receive that kind of funding so for a lot of foundations are nonprofit same may not be willing to lend or i'm sorry don't donate directly to a Co op so a fiscal agent property development services actually offers a fiscal agency.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Service to co OPS, to be a recipient of those funds and then to distribute them consistent with its mission of supporting.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Development so again there's some of the technical things you're going to start like like it's good thing we have systems and good governance and we're keeping good records, because the work is getting more technical and more challenging and complex.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): But exciting because we're moving along right.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): And of course along the way, and throughout whatever it looks like for you to.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Have the right number of Members at the right level of investment or engagement that is a whole nother plan that you are running during the planning phase.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): So setting and achieving those membership goals, as well as paying attention to the relationship with members and deepening with it with them if you're a leader in the effort.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): You know, working on ways to keep them aware of what you're doing get them more involved, maybe come and serve on the board, you know those kinds of things are all part of your planning and development phase, during this part of the work.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): And if you can get through all of that, and you actually you know find that project where that the numbers start to work and there's enough Members, and we, the vision it's a vision fit and we you know.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): have done some of that initial vetting and you may find yourself identifying a priority project and you may actually find yourself entering some kind of.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Commitment that's contingent contingent commitment, whether that's a purchase agreement or maybe a memorandum of understanding or something like that something where it's come far enough, where you think oh.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): We think this could be it and then you're planning phase ends and you will enter the next phase of implementation.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): No set it's not guaranteed, because you can see my red line here is where actually our go no go decision point there's work to be done so.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): contingent move ahead into implementation is not a guarantee that we're going to be able to you know crack a champagne bottle on something at some point down the road.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): But you're closer so there's a lot of work to be done and the things tend to accelerate because now we have obligations commitments to outside people you know timelines that are running and so on, so forth, so.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): This part of the Roadmap when you see it all stretched out takes up as much space as the other parts, but time wise it's probably going to be significantly more truncated maybe.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): So in implementing you know.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): And I would just say here it's not showing her, but all that work that you've done to build systems all along the way for governance and and and finance and all that stuff.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): And those strong relationships that you're attending to along the way they really matter here, because this is where you're going to get stretched and tested.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Or the Board is going to have to make big decisions on behalf of the co operative or you know and justify them to the Member or engage the Members around them, and so you know being strong when you step into this exciting but challenging phase is really important.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): So, and all systems need ongoing tending during phase three but there's a lot going on, so having them be awesome as you move into it is definitely ideal.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): So the implementation phase is going to include some kind of due diligence to allow you to move from contingency to to to a green light.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): So you know what my again this is depending on the project and what's going on, you might need an engineering analysis environmental assessment of a building.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): You know, probably getting really focused on tenant recruitment, if you don't have your tenants lined up, yet you have to think.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Is this commercially viable, can we, you know work out a deal with somebody to occupy space if that's what our project is about.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): We might get to a point where we can get preliminary construction bids that's really important because that's going to feed into financial analysis and, of course, the Bank is going to be very interested in that before it once you any money.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): You need to lock down that many, many so my so and it's missing here and it shouldn't be but i'm so completing any sort of.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): You know outside grant funded or external funding friendly external funding for my brand or whatever, obviously, as part of that.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): As well as potentially for your co op, and this was true for any ic actually going to the Members now you've joined this co op and now here's an opportunity to invest beyond.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): There are ways for co OPS to do that sometimes in some states that are easier than.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Then would be if you were just like a regular person saying hey Community come invest, you know you'd be subject to like a lot of securities regulation.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): And you need to be really attentive to that, but in some instances co OPS do enjoy exemptions from those.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): In some States and so that's an opportunity and part of the pack of the materials that we're going to be offering is any I see which was able to do that under Minnesota law.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): And you know completed a offering memorandum.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): they've agreed to let us share that with people, so they can kind of just see well if it's possible in our state here's how this co op structured it approached it communicated it, you know.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): and ensure that it was compliant with the law.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): And then of course you're going to have to lock down with your lenders and then giving that one sentence and that's probably a lot of meetings, a lot of work, a lot of back and forth, and so on and so forth, but securing the financing will help you get resolve those contingencies.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): And if you can get all those contingencies resolved, then you will be able to celebrate the no turning back point you'll be negotiating the final construction contract negotiating a lease satisfying the contingencies, and you know and then actually launching construction.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): When you do that as a volunteer cooperative community.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Initiative it's really important, in my experience and observation to direct experience and observation to really be committed to managing the project responsibly.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): So, probably means hiring a project manager, maybe not but that's often a very good thing to do.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): The Board really being attentive to that budget and definitely bracing itself for the inevitable hand emergencies cost overruns you know and just again that strength of ability to work through challenges together, could well be tested during this phase.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): And then you get across the finish line right, so you, you get to be all the way done and you get to you know have opening day gets get a certificate of occupancy your tenants are probably doing build out and actually get to celebrate their success, as well as yours that's the joy.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Alright, so i'm just going to super briefly touch on sustaining because I want to close and definitely save a little time for questions.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): But sustaining as a like not a phase that a lot of co OPS have this type have experienced and it's going to look very different and different co OPS, I imagine.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): So stay tuned to learn more go and make some more of these so we know more about what sustaining looks like.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): But what I would say is that pay attention to be a great being a great landlord as part of sustaining if having tenants in space that you cooperatively own as part of your model.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): supporting those tenants businesses and just really being a fair deal with them part of it.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Actually tending to the business of cooperatives there's going to be ongoing taxes and regulatory compliance and governance issues and financial health and paying attention to your membership that is part of sustaining it's not as much fun.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): As you know, like demolishing something and building something new, but it's really important part of the stewardship of the business.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Probably not, certainly, but your mileage may vary, but having.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): You know, gone through a project there's going to be some kind of tired people who've been involved for a while, so preparing for leadership transitions.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): understanding what it takes to bring in new people to this ongoing enterprise, who don't have the war story of going through project number one and really supporting them and being productive members.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): engage members of the border and committee or whatever it looks like is part of the work of sustaining.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): and preserving that institutional knowledge, because people just went through a lot and we don't want to forget the all the work that we did, and the lessons that we learned.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): And then last you may or may not get there, you may or may not choose may not be you may just be one and done, for your real estate development props totally fine.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): One and then sustaining but you know you may test at some point, with a little rest, whether or not you want to explore a future projects.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): So that was a lot for me, but Charlotte don't know if you have anything to add to that.
Charlotte Narjes: No, I think you did a great job.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Okay alright so here's the realm of pull back out from the roadmap now one last time.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): There could be so many more boxes on this I can't even tell you it was hard to decide which boxes to but i'm here but we're trying to.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Make it broadly applicable so and leave room for learning and for other people to contribute the boxes, but here's what it looks like right now.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Okay, so with that just briefly like what's next, so the nebraska cooperative development Center is going to be the home for a website, and we hope will debut June as the goal.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): I kind of written field die pretty brief but a written feel guy that really describes the roadmap that I just went through.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Those materials from any ic that they nacs made a lot of these available of different places and on its website and we're going to collect some of those.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): publicly available ones as well as a couple others any he has agreed to share.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): On that website, we have some ideas of articles and resources that will be linked some other already sees both the ones we mentioned here, and some others that we're aware of, maybe yours, if you have a website, let it, let us know.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): And then really importantly, a place for people to.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): come across this website say hey we're working on that hey here's what we're doing here's the question I have here's a need that I have like a sandbox kind of way for people to connect and.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Add to potentially maybe connect people like wow how about like a working group of people who are actively you know, working on something like this, so anyway, I just said aggregator have some time.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): For people to start connecting more than in scattershot webinars that happened here and there, and once in a while.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): alright.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): So that's what I got ready for questions I.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Actually stopped my share I actually how we doing on time oh so 15 minutes.
Charlotte Narjes: yeah you did great.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Like was perfect timing.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): I can't believe it.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Alright, so I know the chest and active I haven't been reading it, because i've been focused on this, but Charlotte do you have questions already compiled for me or people.
Charlotte Narjes: I have some that I could kind of pulled together and people can ask others to, but one thing, just so that you know this recording will be shared with you and we'll have it available, you know, probably by mid next week for sure.
Charlotte Narjes: Leslie some of the there's three questions that to me are somewhat similar around.
Charlotte Narjes: How what what is a way to hold farmland and real estate to move forward and maybe taking over a family farm and then also around legal structures to hold property to keep affordable, you know they're different but somewhat similar and I thought you.
Charlotte Narjes: Three of those.
Charlotte Narjes: Questions and maybe to start brief for and then, if somebody wants to dive in more, but those three questions to me were very similar.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Well, there are people on this call in this audience, who are way better able to answer some questions than me.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): So i'm going to say like three words and then maybe even call on like i'm looking at you Margaret bow and you Kevin edberg and others as well.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): But I know that cooperative land ownership is actually a challenge in some places here in Minnesota.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): it's actually not allowed, as I understand it, so people have found some workarounds for that, but it's a just a kind of protective statue that emerged, I guess, to not allow a Co OPS, to get lumped together.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): So I think that's going to be really a function of State law, I think there are some co OPS that have looked at land acquisition and maybe have done it I believe there's one Colorado that i'm working on.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): For affordable housing like I mean this might be a strategy, I think that Community land trust's are probably something you're already familiar with.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): We here in minneapolis talk to some of the Community land trust people we have quite a few personal interest here, including one that's really.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): focused on housing and they actually had an interest in thinking about a Community land trust model for commercial real estate.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Which is where our conversation started so that's you know, like a super scattershot answer and obviously i'm revealing that it's kind of an I don't know answer, except that.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Lots of options unique to State law, and you know I definitely would invite anybody who actually you know, has a better answer or more curated answer to come off mute and if you don't want to the site, or can answer in the chat as well.
Ashton Rowles: I know I don't know my my name is Ashton nice to meet you guys i'm a i'm a commercial real estate appraiser by trade and we just had to.
Ashton Rowles: You know my understanding is is that you would have to keep the real estate in some sort of llc you know ownership situation, and there is a.
Ashton Rowles: A about two or three years ago Delaware came out with a legal structure that allows for syndication type model for different investors to come in.
Ashton Rowles: anonymously, so I don't know if they can roll up to the Co op or not I am going to be doing some more research on this over the next week or two so yeah if anyone's really interested in wants to follow up with me, let me know share what I can what I found out.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): that's great thanks Ashton, I see caitlyn is offered the agrarian trust, as the place to look at so.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Another option A and so on yeah so how about if anybody has any other thoughts definitely, let us know by flagging are coming off mute otherwise adding to the chat.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Maybe we're.
Charlotte Narjes: On a boat Leslie there are also some other comments around funding and there were some suggestions that shared it as well.
Charlotte Narjes: You know what how to different funding that we, you can.
Charlotte Narjes: use and there were some suggestions, such as the co operative fun.org and leave find that are in the chat and we'll we'll kind of put some of those together to so that you can share additional information I don't know if there's other funding that you'd like to mention Leslie.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): yeah I will, of course, those are really wonderful and friendly co op friendly financing Thank you dorian for.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Sharing those um and I think like maybe i'll just again i'm always doing that falling into the anecdote, but this is what I know and I actually think it's true and I think it's actually true of food co OPS as well, which i'm more familiar with more stories there.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): So so there's caught friendly financing, which is great, and then, sometimes in a really Community based effort.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): You know your local community bank is a great place to start with, as well, and that was where we had success for any ice like, and the reason our Community, the Community bank that we ended up working with.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): was so willing was because they had invested with our food co op they had led to our food co op so they kind of have a little bit of a track record of working with co op so.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): that's like the list of that again that's a your mileage may vary, but you know you know I would say don't don't neglect to think about those local sources of.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Where there might be relationships or and so on, that you could you could think of but.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): I actually think this is a great one to again again to if people if we you know, once we have a portal ready for people to.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): You know, offer suggestions and we can begin to compile those because it is a question that definitely comes up other times i've talked with folks about this so more boy there's a lot of stay tuned on this, but that's what happens when things are beta so.
Charlotte Narjes: Another question was asked in the responses, what happens if you state does not have co op friendly laws, what do you do town forward and an attorney I don't know if Terry still on from Michigan said he's figured out how to work with around that but there's Terry see right there.
Charlotte Narjes: So I don't know if you want to you know what you shared it works out or if you'd like to add more Leslie.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Leslie there's no Terry please yeah.
Terry Lewis: You know I just unmuted myself.
Terry Lewis: pronouns are she her.
Terry Lewis: Anyway, um yeah we have lousy co op laws, but you know they're part of the State corporation statute.
Terry Lewis: And we have a really nice llc statute, and so we use those to create businesses that operate on a cooperative basis.
Terry Lewis: and using the llc for worker ownership, for example, which is sort of at the heart of what we do when they get to the point where some team makes a snake sense they can check the corporate box and get tax that way.
Terry Lewis: If you're going to do, I was just chatting offline in our directly with with Thomas Beckett about housing cooperatives, you know, in the real estate sector and I spent oh God my entire professional career and that.
Terry Lewis: You want to be a corporation, to be a housing cooperative.
Terry Lewis: Because you don't want to get stuck in section 277 which silos your reserves okay that's your major reason for doing for wanting to be under sub T.
Terry Lewis: Because otherwise the irs is going to try and tax your reserves separately from your operations and you will not be able to use all of your expenses to deduct from that and it, it can be sometimes a substantial amount.
Terry Lewis: But I would use some sort of corporation either nonprofit or for profit within the state and operate on a cooperative basis under sub T you know check the box.
Terry Lewis: And you're not going to all what is Margaret asked me what is section 277 section 277 of the internal revenue code taxes i'm social organizations and the irs tried to apply this to all sorts of cooperatives, I spent, I have a.
Terry Lewis: I have an award sitting on my back wall about my work and making this not happened to to housing cooperatives i'm.
Terry Lewis: They tried to to tax the reserves separately.
Terry Lewis: From i'm from any other part of the co operative operation.
Terry Lewis: Okay, and.
Terry Lewis: Section 277 says, you can do that, but the question is, is this a social club and the eventually the tax court has answered that no with respect to all cooperatives operating under 70.
Terry Lewis: including housing cooperatives, which is why you want to be under 70 now, that is a lot a lot.
Terry Lewis: of legal stuff.
Terry Lewis: But um, but when you hire your attorney your attorney doesn't need to be part of your board or part of your organizing group or whatever, but when you engage with an attorney.
Terry Lewis: They need to really understand what it's going to mean to be in real estate one and what it's going to mean to be in cooperatively owned real estate yeah.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): I would agree with that Terry and one thing I often say, too, is that.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): We we encountered.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): When we worked with the tenants lawyer, it was like not like that wire was really appropriately looking.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): out for their clients interest but, like the like it's almost like there's more than just your lawyer who's going to be involved and it affects the dynamics of a cooperative effort for good or you know for necessary or whatever, but.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): it's like like just you know understanding that it is different and that there's some cultural pieces there to pay attention to is also important not technical, but also important.
Terry Lewis: it's not just that, because operation it cost and proprietary leases or occupancy agreements and the entire structure of setting up your cooperative requires a cooperative attorney it doesn't have to be somebody operating in your state.
Terry Lewis: You can get a cooperative attorney from another state, and have everything reviewed by a real estate attorney in your state that kind of cooperation works really well I highly recommend it very good.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): thanks for that yeah.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): The importance of competent legal advice for any of this stuff really can it could be a thread throughout all of us it's so important because we are wandering into complexities that, especially if you're just a lay person who just as interested in.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Making a space for the brewery you may not have had to encounter so yeah I know there's several more questions and we're coming up on just the last few minutes so i'm Charlotte i'm kind of looking to you to.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Let me know what's.
Charlotte Narjes: Paul Paul said that he has a varsity level question, I thought, if he could ask that and Benjamin I see I missed your question scanning so gave you a response if we have time we'll come back to that so Paul, if you would ask your varsity level question I guess.
Paul Schechter: Thank you and.
Paul Schechter: actually talk to you Leslie over a year about this.
Paul Schechter: And that's how varsity it is.
Paul Schechter: But so for everyone else, I am involved in I think there's a few more people on this call we're also involved.
Paul Schechter: With the Community purchase of 65 acres of land in Madison Wisconsin this land is only three miles from the capital and it's surrounded by city.
Paul Schechter: And it's 175 year old farm that just went on the market, and we want to save it preserve it and keep it as a community asset.
Paul Schechter: And so we started collecting interest pledges for people to invest in the purchase of the farm, a few months ago, and we are above $1.3 million in investment.
Paul Schechter: interest not hard money, right now, but we need to eat let's say we pull the trigger and we buy it, we need to create some sort of legal entity.
Paul Schechter: That will at least be able to pay these folks their principal back and preferably a small margin.
Paul Schechter: And therein lies the problem is how you structure this because, right now, this is just raw land, it has a significant amount of potential to earn money in the future, but it does not have any potential right now so.
Paul Schechter: Our main challenge here is what I should say, the first thought was we could flip it for a small margin and to mission driven developers and so forth, and so on, and make sure that.
Paul Schechter: They develop things that are in line with our master plan and our values and so forth, but even that has received quite a lot of pushback.
Paul Schechter: In our Community, because there is a real fear that if we lose ownership and lose control one day it will just sort of be driven by the capitalist market and.
Paul Schechter: and not be a Community asset anymore so but just curious if there's any thoughts on how to maintain or minute control of the land, like a cmt but also pay back the Co op investors.
Paul Schechter: And, as I was just listening to this call one thought is perhaps we set up both we set up a initial investor co op that funds, the project, initially, and then it sells it to a cmt.
Paul Schechter: And jointly developers, at the same time, such that the slt would own the land and depending on the development that goes above it.
Paul Schechter: We would arrange a price for the land either free if it's a very impactful development or.
Paul Schechter: Something that could give a return to the investors.
Paul Schechter: and
Paul Schechter: maintain control, so the yeah so i'll shut up but anyway that's our sea level question.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Do you're getting to you've gotten two answers in the chat already families and a Community investment trust.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): And I.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): yeah so I you know I don't have an answer for you myself but definitely would encourage maybe people could Paul you see the names of those folks.
Paul Schechter: Things in here.
yeah.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Great good so let's consider it a connection made.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Great and it's good to see you again i'm glad to see you guys are so.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Absolutely yeah.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Great well Thank you so much we're at time so and I see oh Benjamin you had one last question so i'm totally willing to stay on I don't know if I have an answer to that question, but I see the question up here it's about about.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Oh, and I see you already got an answer you guys are just like helping each other out, you see, we actually really do need a working group for people who are working on these kinds of things to kind of come together and convene.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): and actually share the knowledge that you are gaining That would be a real resource.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): So Benjamin if there's more that you want, in response to your question like why don't you Ping me and and we'll we'll see what we come up with around that around some other examples of that kind of transfer that's happened yeah.
Charlotte Narjes: Luckily, there were a number of other people that would like it examples that people shared throughout, and I think that's something maybe with our.
Charlotte Narjes: Efforts ongoing that we could do.
Charlotte Narjes: yeah but, before you close Leslie I did wonder if we could have Kevin at least since he was one of the sponsors of this say hello, and make some comments, then back to you Leslie.
Kevin Edberg: Thank you very much, Charlotte Am I.
Kevin Edberg: Am I unmuted.
Kevin Edberg: Okay.
Kevin Edberg: Great so this project, obviously.
Kevin Edberg: The the number of folks who have expressed interest in this, and the number of folks who have contacted CDs and or any I see over the last.
Kevin Edberg: Several years I think show indicates a wellspring of interest in how to shape and guide development in communities and to achieve a broad variety of outcomes that.
Kevin Edberg: might be different than what we would otherwise normally get and.
Kevin Edberg: I think I won't pretend as as Leslie has been very clear and delightful in saying we don't have all the answers, because we don't have all that many data points.
Kevin Edberg: But I think the conversation here is unpacking the kinds of questions that deserve more conversation the kinds of collaborative discussions that I think can.
Kevin Edberg: can lead us into some new directions that will help refine this so I don't see this conversation going away, and I certainly do not believe that the last chapter of the story has been written, I am looking forward to the next written chapters that will be available.
Kevin Edberg: Coming out of this collaboration.
Kevin Edberg: But I think there, I would not at all be surprised if there is not a future.
Kevin Edberg: A future conversation like this that we can host again, I very much want to express my appreciation to Charlotte and university of nebraska Lincoln for the partnership with our organization it.
Kevin Edberg: It shows a whole lot about what happens when co operators get to actually talk and think together.
Kevin Edberg: I could i'll tell that story another time but you Charlotte Thank you so much for for your partnership and sponsorship with your Center to the usda RC real COP development grant funds have been.
Kevin Edberg: A part of both of our organizations and our capacity to this work, so.
Kevin Edberg: kudos all rob.
Kevin Edberg: toss it back to you guys, thank you.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): thanks again i'm great so well we're at the end of our time, so I think a commitment, we can make is to send a link to the recording.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): To send a link to the website when it's up and running, and I know that I this call has convinced me if I wasn't convinced already that probably one of the highest value things we can do.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): is to make a place for people to share resources where it's collected and we can find it and people can find each other.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Because i'm Actually, I know that I.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): I kind of started with a little bit of a lament like i've talked to all these people and nothing's happening, and then I come on this call i'm like oh my God there's other stuff happening so it's really fantastic and.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Really, encouraging and thank you for that work in your communities to cooperate and make stuff happen.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): And with that, I think we are complete.
Leslie Watson - CDS/Columinate (she/her): Alright, thanks everybody.
Ashton Rowles: Thank you.
Ashton Rowles: TIM thanks.
I.