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REQUEST FOR <br />COUNCIL ACTION <br />CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE: <br />OCTOBER 16, 2018 <br />TITLE: <br />RECEIVE AND FILE WORKER COOPERATIVE <br />POLICY <br />{STRATEGIC PLAN NO. 3,1,5C) <br />103 YA 515 <br />i <br />RECOMMENDED ACTION <br />CLERK OF COUNCIL USE ONLY: <br />APPROVED <br />❑ As Recommended <br />❑ As Amended <br />❑ Ordinance on 1 s Reading <br />❑ Ordinance on 2ntl Reading <br />❑ Implementing Resolution <br />❑ Set Public Hearing For_ <br />CONTINUED TO <br />FILE NUMBER <br />Receive and file the Worker Cooperative Policy for the Community Development Agency. <br />DISCUSSION <br />Small businesses are the foundation of the City and the City's well-being is inextricably linked to a <br />strong business environment. One of the City's Strategic Plan primary goals is to implement <br />policies and strategies for economic development to encourage businesses to grow and prosper <br />that provide living -wage jobs, reduce unemployment, and improve the quality of life for its residents. <br />Today, there still exist several barriers to the development of worker cooperatives which include: <br />lack of public awareness of its benefits; limited technical support in forming, operating, or <br />converting existing businesses to a worker cooperative; difficulties obtaining financing for <br />cooperative formation or conversion; and high startup costs (permit fees, license fees, lease rates) <br />that many small businesses experience in California. As local municipalities look for new and <br />strategic forms of community economic development efforts, Santa Ana has the opportunity to be <br />a leader in Orange County to support and reduce barriers for the development and future of a <br />cooperative economy in the City. This policy will provide resources for local residents to develop <br />worker cooperatives and become business owners in the City. <br />Worker cooperatives are businesses owned and operated solely by its workers. These businesses <br />provide local goods and services, stable jobs for residents, and offer new economic opportunities <br />for lower income workers in the City. A worker cooperative is different from a typical business <br />structure in that the profits are shared amongst the owners and each worker has an equal vote in <br />the direction and actions of the business. <br />On August 1, 2017, the City of Santa Ana took the first step in community wealth building by <br />becoming the first city in Orange County to adopt a Resolution of Support for worker cooperatives. <br />This community economic development initiative was aimed at increasing the wealth of the City's <br />1913-1 <br />