Wellspring’s mission is to create an economy that is cooperative, equitable, democratic, and sustainable. We work with historically under-served communities in the Greater Springfield region by developing a network of worker cooperatives and by supporting cooperative community/solidarity economy initiatives to cultivate cooperatives and collective well-being.
A worker cooperative is a type of business owned and controlled by its employees. Unlike a traditional business model, in a worker co-op, the workers are the owners. The worker-owners work together to manage their business and share its profits in ways that serve their collective interests.
Wellspring is part of the movement to build a more just, sustainable and democratic world. We embrace the vision of the solidarity economy, a global movement to transform our economic system of capitalism into one that is grounded in values of solidarity, democracy, equity in all dimensions (race, class, gender, etc.), sustainability, and pluralism (not a one-size-fits-all approach).
Co-op development is an important piece of the solidarity economy, but there are many other aspects that we support through our Solidarity Economy work, which we also call Cooperative Community Initiatives.
Stories, updates, and insights from across the cooperative community. Here, we highlight the work of co-ops near and far, share practical tips on cooperative development, and explore how democratic ownership is creating meaningful change.
Since 2022, Natural Living Landscapes (NLL) has been a Wellspring co-op serving the Valley with ecological, high-quality residential and commercial landscaping. Their mission is to enhance the quality of life
We are delighted to welcome Hector Figarella to Wellspring! Hector joined our program team in early April and is already at work on projects related to Gran Cocina, worker housing
In 2025, we set a goal of acquiring affordable housing for worker-owners in Wellspring’s co-op network. Last Friday, we got the keys to our first purchase – a duplex in
Join us in looking back on a year in which we laid the foundation for much of what is coming to fruition now – including the Fab Lab, worker housing,
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