The Fayette-Spalding Cooperative (FSC) is a progressive, community driven organization dedicated to enhancing the total wellbeing of its members and the wider community. Established on principles of building a stronger local community, the FSC provides an alternative model for community building by aiming to empower and uplift our members and neighbors.
Read More JoinOrganizing our community
The FSC is a 501c4 Non-Profit Organization dedicated to promoting the social welfare of our community by bringing meaningful change at the local community level by using concepts of mutual aid, worker cooperativism, and community organizing. We believe in building a society rooted in collaboration over competition. Our members seek to improve the lives of our community and neighbors in a revolutionary new way because we understand that many hands can accomplish many things when we work together.
Learn More Commonly Asked QuestionsThe Fayette-Spalding Cooperative exists to serve its members and our fellow community members by providing alternative systems that directly address the needs of the community. These systems and services are built from the ground up in a new and revolutionary way built on community because we understand that the healthier our community is the healthier we are as individuals in that community.
Building an Intentional Community
Fayette-Spalding Cooperative Members are individuals who:
‣ Are at least 13 years old; and
‣ Live, work, or have other communal ties to the geographic locations defined as Fayette or Spalding Counties in Georgia; and
‣ Agree with the foundational principles of the Fayette-Spalding Cooperative and its bylaws; and
‣ Are considered Active by either:
◦ Paying a monthly due at a rate set by the members; OR
◦ Have a Dues Waiver
No one will ever be denied membership due to lack of funds
A Community Where You Belong
Our members are interested in organizing our local community in a radically different way to better combat important issues like climate change, corporate greed, economic inequality, and ineffective governance. Who better to solve the issues of a community other than the community itself?
The Fayette-Spalding Cooperative has a mission of organizing new and novel solutions to community problems by using direct democracy and by pooling our time, energy, labor, effort, and resources together so that we can invest them for the benefit of our community. Our members participate in systems built on collaboration and cooperation such as tool sharing libraries, babysitting cooperatives, mutual-aid, worker cooperativism, and other member services which are built and maintained by our members themselves.
The Fayette-Spalding Cooperative is built and maintained by the community which it serves. By joining our community's resources together in a collaborative way we are able to accomplish more together than we would be able to do alone. We empower our community by working together towards sustainable, equitable, and shared goals. The Fayette-Spalding Cooperative is much more than a typical non-profit organization--the FSC is a new way to form community between our neighbors in a new and revolutionary way for the betterment of all.
Knowledge to the People
What is a Worker Cooperative?How Are Dues Used? How Much Does It Cost?Does the FSC Accept Donations? What is Democratic Organizing?What is Political Education? Can I Join If I'm Not In The Area?How Do I Get Involved? Are All the Workers Paid The Same?What are the Seven Principles of Cooperativism? How Are Cooperatives Different?How Do Cooperatives Affect the Local Economy?
What is a Worker Cooperative?
A worker cooperative is a type of business that is owned and controlled by the people who work
in it. These workers actively participate in the decision-making process through a concept called "democracy in the workplace" and they share in the profits. This model of business
design fosters a democratic workplace where each member has a voice, thus promoting equity, mutual respect, and shared prosperity. Worker Cooperatives sometimes have managers but these managers
are hired by the workers and function different from corporate managers. Corporate managers exist to extract as much profit from the workers as possible to maximize shareholder value
while Cooperative managers exist to increase the effeciency and productivity of the business because the better the cooperative business performs the better paid the workers are.
How Are Dues Used?
Dues collected from our members are used to reinvest back into our community and to support and maintain
the services that we provide to our members. The use of the Fayette-Spalding Cooperative's funds are authorized through direct democratic action where we vote on how to use our resources to best
affect the community. Dues are also used to support local worker cooperative start-ups to give them the financial resources to become self-sustaining and successful.
How Much Does It Cost?
Membership in the Fayette-Spalding Cooperative is priced to ensure full accessibility while supporting
the maintenance and growth of our organization. As a member of the FSC you determine how much you're able to budget in monthly membership dues from $5/mo to $500/mo and every amount in between. We
hope that you invest an amount comfortable to your personal budget. Individuals who lack access to adequate resources to contribute financially can waive their monthly dues and pay $0/mo to be a
member of the FSC. No one will ever be turned away from membership due to lack of material resources.
Does the FSC Accept Donations?
We do! Donations are a great way to help us continue our mission of community
organizing and allow individuals to contribute towards our cause if membership isn't for them or if a member wants to contribute beyond their normal monthly dues. The Fayette-Spalding Cooperative
is a legal corporation entity in the State of Georgia and is a registered 501c4 non-profit organization with the United States's Internal Revenue Service. Donations to the FSC are not
tax deductible.
What is Democratic Organizing?
Democratic Organizing is the idea that true individual freedom can only
be achieved when everyone has an equal vote and voice in community decision-making. We believe in the power of robust discussion in a marketplace of ideas, criticism of established practices,
the lifting of voices traditionally not heard, and the power of consensus-based direct democracy. Consensus-based democracy is how we engage in decision-making with our friends and families where
the first priority is to achieve consensus on a decision and only use majority-rules when a consensus cannot be made.
What is Political Education?
Political Education is a process of learning, discussing, and understanding the political
landscape, systems, and ideologies that shape our society. It's about engaging in a deep study of how power structures function, understanding different political theories, and learning about the
historical and contemporary movements for social change. The Fayette-Spalding Cooperative, we believe that political education is vital for fostering a community that's informed, empowered, and
capable of advocating for itself and its needs. It helps members understand the broader social, economic, and political contexts in which we operate, and equips them with the knowledge to make informed
decisions about how we govern ourselves as a community. Through political education, we aim to empower our members to become active participants in shaping the society we live in, and to build the
knowledge and skills needed to advance our cooperative's mission of fostering an equitable, democratic, and socially conscious community.
Can I Join If I'm Not In The Area?
Absolutely! We call members who don't live or work in Fayette or Spalding Counties
Ambassadors because the Fayette-Spalding Cooperative views these members as future organizers of their own communities utilizing our best practices and infrastructure. Every non-resident
member is encouraged to learn from our operation so that they can return to their communities to enact meaningful change.
How Do I Get Involved?
The easiest way to get involved with the Fayette-Spalding Cooperative is to join us as a member.
Members are immediately tied into our system and member services when they join. The FSC's Membership Committee provides member outreach and orientation so that you can start organizing with us as
quickly as possible. Interested individuals who want to become members can register at our Member Portal to get started.
Are All the Workers Paid The Same?
A common misconception of a worker cooperative is that every worker, regardless of their
individual productivity, are paid the same amount but this is not true. In general, in a cooperative business environment, the highest paid worker generally earns $5 for every $1 the lowest paid worker
earns. Compared to the rate of $400 for the highest paid worker for every $1 the lowest paid worker earns in a corporate environment a worker cooperative allows for more equitable payment structures.
Worker Cooperatives reward hard work by ensuring that the most productive and hardest working individuals of a cooperative are often the highest paid workers of that cooperative.
What are the Seven Principles of Cooperativism?
Voluntary and Open Membership: Worker Cooperatives are open to any persons who are willing to work for the cooperative regardless of race, sex, sexual orientation, gender, identity, or disability.
Democratic Member Control: Cooperatives engage in "Democracy in the Workplace" where instead of corporate style top-down decisions and policies the workers themselves make business decisions using democracy where one worker has one vote.
Members' Economic Participation: The owners of a Worker Cooperative are the workers of that business themselves. These worker-owners participate in the economic activities of the cooperative and democratically elect on how the cooperative uses its surplus capital when available.
Autonomy and Independence: The cooperative functions independently of others and strives for autonomy without the influence of external forces that would seek to utilize the cooperative in a manner against its organizational goals. The cooperative functions as an independent entity when making democratic decisions that affect its members.
Education, Training, and Information: Worker-owners of a cooperative are educated and encouraged to involve themselves in every aspect of a cooperative's operations. The continual advancement of worker skills, abilities, and knowledge improve the cooperative as a whole.
Cooperation Among Cooperatives: Worker Cooperatives are organized on the idea of conducting business in a collaborative way over a competitive way. The better off other cooperatives are doing translates into the direct wellbeing of other cooperatives in the same market.
Concern for Community: A cooperative exists to serve the community which it operates in and actively invests resources back into that community. Healthy communities provide for healthy cooperatives and vice versa.
How Are Cooperatives Different?
Corporations extract wealth from our local community by sending our wealth
outside of the community in exchange for low-paying and exploitative jobs. Privately held corporations are often owned by individuals benefitting from generational wealth and the owners of corporations
often redistribute the wealth created by the working class to them in the form of profits despite not working for that wealth. Worker Cooperatives, by contrast, keep wealth circulating within the local economy
because the wealth created by a cooperative isn't redistributed outside of the community. Because cooperatives share the burden of ownership they generally outperform privately held corporations.
How Do Cooperatives Affect the Local Economy?
Worker Cooperatives operate almost exclusively within the local economy where they provide more
competitive pricing for goods and services while paying the workers of the cooperative a higher wage than corporations generally offer. Because the wealth generated by a worker cooperative remains in the local economy
longer it fosters a healthier environment for other local businesses to thrive in. Workers in a cooperative also don't vote to fire themselves to send production overseas to maximize corporate profits. The Griffin
community was devastated after the corporate cotton manufacturing industry moved production to Mexico following the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement--something that would not have happened if the cotton
mills were owned and operated by the workers in a cooperative way.
Got Another Question?
We want to answer any questions you might have about the Fayette-Spalding Cooperative so please see the Contact
Us section for more information on how to contact us with your questions!
