Utah is home to a diverse and thriving business environment built on the ideals of freedom, autonomy, and entrepreneurship. As Utahns, we are always looking ahead to find better, more innovative economic structures and incentives to help our communities thrive.
One innovative structure that we would do well to consider incentivizing is the co-op (or cooperative) structure.
What a “co-op” looks like in real life is employees getting together to start (or purchase) businesses that are then democratically operated by the workers themselves. The workers then democratically decide how to grow the businesses, and the profits are shared among the workers actually producing them, instead of being hoarded by CEOs and shareholders.
Research has shown that co-operatives are resilient and have a much stronger rate of start-up success over other forms of business. Co-ops also demonstrate a higher survival rate than other forms of enterprise.
Darin Mann is standing up strong for incentivizing co-op structures here in Utah. He’s the only candidate running for House District 24 who includes a comprehensive plan for cooperative development in his platform. Let’s elect Darrin so he can usher in a cooperative future in our communities.
Bryan Davies, Salt Lake City