Cleveland is by all accounts (and like many others) a city of contrast. A short jaunt from the museums, parks and outdoor ice rinks of University Circle sit six of the city’s most economically deprived neighborhoods.
But as city after city pin their hopes of an urban renaissance on new landmark developments, more than a billion dollars worth of investment in Cleveland’s cultural and civic spaces has brought few economic benefits to the 40,000-odd residents who live closest to them.
Similarly, little of the $3 billion spent annually by the nearby Cleveland Clinic, Case Western University or University Hospitals stays local.
The Evergreen Co-operatives initiative hopes to harness some of that economic activity to create not just well-paid, sustainable jobs but also wealth in the form of ten, for-profit, green businesses that will be owned and operated by local residents.
The co-operative project is “a partnership between the residents of six of [the] city’s neighborhoods and some of Cleveland’s most important “anchor institutions” – the Cleveland Foundation, the City of Cleveland, Case Western Reserve University, the Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals, and many others.”
Back in October they launched the Evergreen Co-operative Laundry with an investment of over $5 million dollars, and the Ohio Solar Co-operative, a solar panel installation company. A third business, Green City Growers, is due to launch soon; growing vegetables on once abandoned lots and selling the produce to the local hospitals.
A potential model for others cities to follow?
Site: www.evergreencoop.com Check out their video here.
Source: The Economist
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