The Wellspring Collaborative officially launches its first cooperatively owned Springfield business on Wednesday, March 26 at 10:30 a.m. All are welcome.
Springfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno will be on hand for the formal opening of the Wellspring Upholstery Cooperative, at 141-143 Main St. Charles H. Ruck, former executive director of Springfield Neighborhood Housing Services, will host the ribbon-cutting ceremony, and Frank Robinson, executive director of Springfield’s Partners for a Healthier Community, will offer opening remarks before lunch and a panel discussion on cooperative business development.
The new South End business is partnering with the Hampden County Sheriff’s Department and a veteran upholsterer to provide training and support for new worker-owners. The upholstery cooperative plans to employ six Springfield residents in its first year and expects to double in size within six years.
“This shop is providing much-needed jobs for low-income Springfield residents,” says Fred Rose, Wellspring Collaborative’s director and lecturer at the Center for Public Policy and Administration. “I’m excited to see the Collaborative take the first public step in our far-reaching economic development plan to create a network of locally owned businesses in some of this city’s poorest neighborhoods.”
The Wellspring Collaborative is modeled on the Evergreen Cooperatives in Cleveland and the Mondragón Corporation in Spain. Evergreen, like Wellspring, draws on the purchasing power of the area’s largest employers and anchor institutions to provide a market for new, worker-owned companies. So far the upholstery co-op has performed contracts with the University of Massachusetts Amherst, the Westfield, Mass., mayor’s office and local banquet facilities.
The sheriff’s department has run an upholstery training program for several decades in the county jail. By partnering with the sheriff, the Wellspring co-op has access to a pool of potential employees who already have some training and often are in need of a job upon release from jail. The co-op’s other partner, Alliance Upholstery, is an established Springfield business with more than 40 years of upholstering experience and a fully equipped shop, where the Wellspring co-op is located. Alliance’s owner, Evan Cohen, is managing Wellspring Upholstery and training the incoming workforce.
“We’re incredibly lucky to have the partnerships we do. By starting off with an operational workspace and an established vocational training program, our business is already sitting on a firm foundation,” Rose says. “The co-op is actively working to build our customer base and increase employment, so if you have any upholstery needs either at home or in your workplace, please call (413) 731-7857.”
Going forward, the co-op will look to capitalize on the Wellspring Collaborative’s relationships with area anchor institutions to secure upholstering contracts. Baystate Health, Sisters of Providence Health System, Mass Mutual, UMass Amherst, Western New England University and Springfield Technical Community College are among the 22 anchor institutions, community groups and development partners currently affiliated with the Wellspring Collaborative.