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Catalyzing worker co-ops & the solidarity economy

Island Community in Maine Creates Worker-Owned Cooperative to Retain Local Businesses and Jobs

Deer Isle and Stonington, ME, June 17, 2014–Employees of three rural Maine businesses–Burnt Cove Market, V&S Variety and Pharmacy, and The Galley–are now the owners. All of them.

By forming the Island Employee Cooperative, Inc. (IEC), the largest worker cooperative in Maine and one of the larger worker co-ops in the United States, the employees were able to purchase the businesses from retiring owners Vern and Sandra Seile. Combined, the three businesses are one of the island’s largest employers and provide the community with a full array of groceries, hardware, prescription drugs, pharmacy items, craft supplies, and other goods and services.

Read the full article at the Cooperative Development Institute

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