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Showing posts with label conversion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label conversion. Show all posts
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Congratulations Real Pickles on transitioning to a Cooperative!
Thanks to huge support from our community, a successful community investment campaign, and many months of hard work from our founding co-op team here at Real Pickles, this morning we signed the documents that made the conversion official. Real Pickles is now "Real Pickles Cooperative."
Monday, May 6, 2013
Press release: Homeowners purchase 200-site North Adams park; join Mass. trend of resident-owned manufactured home communities
May 2, 2013
Wheel Estates Tenants Association Inc.
Homeowners purchase 200-site North Adams park;
join Mass. trend of resident-owned manufactured home communities
Contacts:
Andy Danforth, Housing Program Director, CDI (401) 439-9795North Adams, Mass. – Homeowners in this 200-home manufactured housing community took a big step toward securing their financial futures when they collectively bought their neighborhood as a resident corporation this week.
Michael Sloss, Managing Director, ROC USA® Capital: (202) 595-2690
Paul Bradley, President, ROC USA, LLC (603) 856-0709
The Wheel Estates Tenants Association Board of Directors said that while complex, the purchase process went more smoothly than they anticipated.
“It was hard work but it was all worth it,” board members wrote in a prepared statement. “The board is dedicated to the growth of our community with the support of our residents to put our best efforts into enhancing the community.”
The resident association purchased the community May 2 for $2.65 million with assistance from the Cooperative Development Institute. CDI is a certified technical assistance provider with ROC USA® Network, a national non-profit organization that works to help residents of for-sale mobile home parks form cooperatives and buy their communities. Technical assistance will continue to be provided by CDI to the association for the length of the mortgage — a minimum of 10 years.
In addition to a first mortgage that covered the purchase price, ROC USA Capital also provided a construction loan of up to $ 1.1 million to address infrastructure upgrades.
Wheel Estates is the sixth Massachusetts community supported by ROC USA Network. CDI and ROC USA helped more than 450 homeowners in two Carver communities purchase their parks in June and 66 homeowners in Plymouth in February. In these democratic associations, homeowners in the community each buy one low-cost membership interest. Each household has one vote on matters of the community. The members elect a Board of Directors to act on day-to-day issues and vote as a membership on larger matters like the annual budget, by-laws and community rules.
Andy Danforth, Director of CDI’s New England Resident Owned Communities (NEROC) Program, noted the extra challenge of for the first time working in a city with rent control ordinances. He joined the Wheel Estates board members in praising the efforts of city officials to accommodate a new model of community ownership.
“The city rent control board developed, in a matter of only three weeks, a new policy and rent adjustment application for resident-owned communities, and a new rent based upon resident member vote, contingent upon their purchase,” Danforth said.
Community owner Bob Morgan said selling to the residents was like any conventional sale.
“The transaction involved all the normal things, no surprises,” Morgan said. “Andy did a great job.”
Financing for the project came from ROC USA Capital. ROC USA Capital is a wholly-owned subsidiary of ROC USA and a U.S. Department of Treasury-certified Community Development Financial Institution.
ROC USA Capital Managing Director Michael Sloss pointed to the community’s prime location, with sweeping views of the Berkshires, hundreds of undeveloped hillside acres, the abutting Savoy Mountain State Forest and easy access to shopping, schools and more.
“We’re excited to meet both the community acquisition and community improvement needs with our financing,” said Sloss, noting that a significant portion of ROC USA Capital’s loan is targeted to water, sewer and road improvements. “The preservation of the homes in Wheel Estates through affordable, fixed-rate community financing will have lasting impact in North Adams.”
Cooperative ownership of mobile home parks as a way of preserving affordable communities is a priority for several national non-profit organizations that in 2008 formed ROC USA to make resident-owned communities viable nationwide. ROC USA is sponsored by the Ford Foundation, NeighborWorks® America, NCB Capital Impact, the Corporation for Enterprise Development, and the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund.
ROC USA is a non-profit organization with a national network of eight organizations such as CDI and a national financing source for resident-owned communities. “We solve the two basic barriers to resident ownership – access to expert technical assistance and financing to help homeowners become buyers when their community is for sale,” said Paul Bradley, ROC USA’s founding president.
ROC USA Network has helped 46 communities preserve nearly 3,200 homes in 13 states since its launch in May 2008. www.rocusa.org
The Cooperative Development Institute is a regional cooperative development center, founded in 1994, which has assisted dozens of new and existing cooperatives throughout New England and New York. It is involved in cooperative housing as well as agriculture, consumer, worker-owner, energy, and fishing cooperatives. For rural senior co-op development, CDI received support from the Cooperative Development Foundation. www.cdi.coop
This is the 10th resident corporation purchase for CDI in 29 months, with six in Massachusetts, three in Vermont and one in Maine.
Monday, February 25, 2013
New Resident-Owned Community in Plymouth, MA
For
Immediate Release
Feb.
20, 2013
West
Wood Village Resident Association Inc.
Homeowners
purchase 66-site Plymouth park; join growing
Mass.
trend of resident-owned manufactured home communities
Contacts:
Bob
Howard, President, West Wood Village Resident Association (774)
283-2878
Andy
Danforth, Housing Program Director, CDI (401) 439-9795
Michael
Sloss, Managing Director, ROC USA® Capital: (202) 595-2690
Paul Bradley, President, ROC USA, LLC (603) 856-0709
Paul Bradley, President, ROC USA, LLC (603) 856-0709
Plymouth,
Mass. – Homeowners in this 66-home manufactured housing
community took a big step toward securing their financial futures
when they collectively bought their neighborhood as a resident
corporation today.
Bob
Howard, interim association president, said the board of directors is
focused on providing good services, including a staff person to
perform maintenance and upkeep around West Wood Village.
”I
think the overall feeling is one of happiness with becoming a
resident-owned community and being able to run our own lives,” said
Howard, a retired chemical engineer. “We now have control of our
destiny. Before we were all living on a month-to-month lease, and
there was always the possibility of being sold.
“It’s
getting rid of the unknown. We know now that we as the community are
running the community.”
The
resident association purchased the community Feb. 20 for $3.83
million with assistance from the Cooperative Development Institute.
CDI is a certified technical assistance provider with ROC USA®
Network, a national non-profit organization that works to help
residents of for-sale mobile home parks form cooperatives and buy
their communities. Technical assistance will continue to be provided
by CDI to the association for the length of the mortgage — a
minimum of 10 years.
“I’d
say the partnership with ROC USA has been excellent,” Howard said.
“They’re very supportive and CDI has been very supportive. I know
we couldn’t have done this without them.”
West
Wood Village is the fifth Massachusetts community in the ROC USA
Network. CDI and ROC USA helped more than 450 homeowners in two
Carver communities purchase their parks in June. In these democratic
associations, homeowners in the community each buy one low-cost
share. Each household has one vote on matters of the community. The
members elect a Board of Directors to act on day-to-day issues and
vote as a membership on larger matters like the annual budget,
by-laws and community rules.
Andy
Danforth, Director of CDI’s New England Resident Owned Communities
(NEROC) Program, said, “It’s very rewarding to work with
residents all over the state who are working hard to bring more
economic stability to their lives through this process of democratic
ownership.”
Financing
for the project came from ROC USA Capital and CDI. ROC USA Capital is
a wholly-owned subsidiary of ROC USA and a U.S. Department of
Treasury-certified Community Development Financial Institution.
ROC
USA Capital Managing Director Michael Sloss pointed to the
community’s prime location near a large shopping center, historic
downtown Plymouth, and major roads to Boston, Cape Cod and
Providence, R.I.
“ROC
USA Capital was very pleased to partner with the homeowners at this
community and CDI to preserve 66 affordable homes in Plymouth,”
Sloss said. “To deliver long-term affordable fixed-rate permanent
financing while promoting preservation of this attractive
neighborhood represents tremendous community impact.”
West
Wood Village just finished digging out from winter storm Nemo, a
blizzard for the record books. Howard said the 30 inches of snow that
fell in Plymouth was compounded by gusty winds, which knocked out
power. With drifts well up onto the windows of homes, many of the
elderly residents were essentially trapped.
A
year from now, Howard said the community will be better equipped to
handle such a storm.
“We’re
purchasing the right equipment, we’ve got the right attitude and we
should be in good shape to handle it,” Howard said, noting that as
residents have gotten to know one another better through the purchase
process, they’ve become more apt to help out their neighbors. “We
have a plan to handle that type of situation, we’ll just hire
additional people plus the person we have working here to take care
of it.”
Cooperative
ownership of mobile home parks as a way of preserving affordable
communities is a priority for several national non-profit
organizations that in 2008 formed ROC USA to make resident-owned
communities viable nationwide. ROC USA is sponsored by the Ford
Foundation, NeighborWorks® America, NCB Capital Impact, the
Corporation for Enterprise Development, and the New Hampshire
Community Loan Fund. The Community Loan Fund, a non-profit community
development financial institution in New Hampshire, leveraged its
experience with 103 resident-owned communities in that state to
launch ROC USA with national partners in 2008.
ROC
USA is a non-profit organization with a national network of eight
organizations such as CDI and a national financing source for
resident-owned communities. “We solve the two basic barriers to
resident ownership – access to expert technical assistance and
financing to help homeowners become buyers when their community is
for sale,” said Paul Bradley, ROC USA’s founding president.
ROC
USA Network has helped 45 communities preserve nearly 3,000 homes in
13 states since its launch in May 2008. www.rocusa.org
The
Cooperative Development Institute is a regional cooperative
development center, founded in 1994, which has assisted dozens of new
and existing cooperatives throughout New England and New York. It is
involved in cooperative housing as well as agriculture, consumer,
worker-owner, energy, and fishing cooperatives. For rural senior
co-op development, CDI received support from the Cooperative
Development Foundation. www.cdi.coop
###
Friday, January 18, 2013
Brunswick park becomes co-op: press
This article ran this week in the Coastal Journal, distributed from Freeport to Camden and inserted in the Portland Press Herald.
Nice work, NEROC!
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Congratulations to the Old Creamery Co-op!
It was a long haul, but they did it -- the 550 members of the Old Creamery Cooperative became owners of the Old Creamery country store in Cummington, MA. See the Berkshire Eagle story and the mention in the Boston Globe.
CDI provided initial guidance and fiscal sponsorship to the years-long effort. This is the first example in our region of a conversion of an existing grocery store into a community-owned co-op through the creation of a new cooperative business, but we feel sure it won't be the last!
CDI provided initial guidance and fiscal sponsorship to the years-long effort. This is the first example in our region of a conversion of an existing grocery store into a community-owned co-op through the creation of a new cooperative business, but we feel sure it won't be the last!
Thursday, October 20, 2011
"Don't Let 'Em Go! How co-ops can keep vital businesses, services in rural communities"
In the current (Sept/Oct) issue of USDA's Rural Cooperatives magazine, a salute to noteworthy co-ops in celebration of National (and International!) Cooperative Month includes an article by Noemi Giszpenc on converting existing businesses to co-op ownership in rural communities. The article features the Old Creamery Co-op, Crown O'Maine Organic Co-op, Turtle Ridge Cooperative, ROC USA, and Maine Organic Milling, all examples of people cooperating to keep needed institutions and make sure they are serving their communities. See page 30 for the article, and browse the other great stories in this special Co-op Month issue.
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