VAWC Members are supporting themselves and building the co-operative economy through the VAWC Interco-operative Development Fund. Modeled after Italian co-operatives who wrote a regulation that all co-ops must contribute 3% of surplus to co-op development, VAWC Member Co-ops are using surplus to support need and allocate 5% of their surplus to the Fund.

The VAWC Fund empowers worker co-ops in our system to have voice at the table of finance through an additional capital asset with many activities:

• VAWC’s Fund has over $44,000 invested in two co-op loan funds: Shared Capital Cooperative and the Cooperative Fund of the North East

• Revenue from the Fund is for annual educational scholarships and conference attendance for VAWC Member Co-ops and to put back into the fund

• VAWC has issued five direct loans to members to fill need, including Collective Copies and Flat Iron Cooperative, which has saved thousands in processing costs and interest for worker co-ops in our system

• VAWC has supported a number of worker co-operators joining boards of loan funds to broaden the connection and information exchange of finance with the voice of labor

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