Collective Copies

Visions are made into reality as print jobs and book pages smoothly fall into output trays.  Stacks of material stand ready for pick-up by organizations from nearby colleges or small, mission based organizations. From book binding and brochures to coffee and local history, Collective Copies’ two locations in western Massachusetts stand as examples of co-op resilience and innovation.  

“This area boasts so many writers” said Matt Grillo, worker member for more than 20 years. From cookbooks and local history to poetry and mystery, Collective Copies publishes books of all types through their publishing and book printing wing.

In 1982, facing poor working conditions and substandard pay, workers at Gnomon Copy in Amherst, MA, went on strike and affiliated with the United Electrical Workers Union (UE). Workers formed a collective when Gnomon refused to recognize the union. They started up in a small location with one black-and-white machine using community member support in the form of $100 pre-purchase of copies. 

Collective Copies’ structure as a worker co-op has supported continual innovation from its members:

1997: Opened second shop in Florence, Massachusetts
2004: Co-founded U.S. Federation of Worker Co-ops
2005: Co-founded Valley Alliance of Worker Co-ops
2005: Began selling products from other worker co-ops like Equal Exchange and Fedco Seeds
2009: Launched Levellers Press – a book publishing imprint including e-books
2010: Launched Off The Common Press – a self-publishing wing
2012: Opened web store
2021: Created Collective Copies app

A Legacy of Impact

Collective Copies members put people over profit and prioritize cooperative values and worker well-being. Collective Copies’ uses only recycled (see other side for details). Collective Copies donates 10% of surplus each year to community organizations – from animal shelters to health clinics to student groups and more. Workers at Collective Copies receive full healthcare, vacation, a 401(k) match for retirement, and disability insurance.

Get your environmentally sound books, coffee, and printing needs met at Collective Copies and be part of cooperatizing the economy for the next 40 years. www.collectivecopies.coop • 413.256.6425

Written by Dylan Hatch and Adam Trott.

Thanks to the Cooperative Development Foundation: CDF promotes self-help and mutual aid in community, economic and social development through cooperative enterprise. CDF administers a family of funds that provide grants to promote cooperative development and innovation. The foundation also engages in educational programming that both enables networking among cooperative development practitioners and raises awareness about cooperatives in the public policy arena.