Read the full stored bill text
January 31, 2025
Nyasha Smith, Secretary
Council of the District of Columbia
1350 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20004
Dear Secretary Smith,
Today, I am introducing, Opening Worker-Ownership: A New Economic Resilience Strategy
(OWNERS) Amendment Act of 2025. This legislation would direct the District’s Department of
Licensing and Consumer Protection (DLCP) to survey our business ecosystem and co-create a
city-wide strategy for incentivizing and helping District business owners sell to their
employees—a process called a worker cooperative conversion. Please find enclosed a signed
copy of the legislation.
In a city of skyrocketing costs, it has become all too common to see community businesses close:
58% of District businesses close within 5 years of opening, and that statistic climbs to 70% over
10 years.1 Many businesses close because of rent increases or because a business owner is
retiring or wants to move on without a succession plan. This closure crisis is an opportunity for
DLCP to better understand why small businesses are struggling and to explore how the District
can support them more effectively.
Evidence suggests that cooperatives can be more resilient than traditional business structures,
even in economic downturns.2 10% of cooperatives fail after the first year, while 60-80% of
traditional businesses fail after the first year. After 5 years, 90% of cooperatives are still in
business, while only 3 – 5% of traditional businesses are still operating after 5 years.3 This is
often because of the many people involved in starting a cooperative and the democratic systems
that govern worker cooperative operations.
1 Devon Delfino, Percentage of Businesses That Fail — and How to Boost Chances of Success, Lending
Tree, April 8, 2024, available at https://www.lendingtree.com/business/small/failure-rate/.
2 Benefits and Impacts of Cooperatives, Howard University Center on Race and Wealth, Jessica Gordon
Nembhard, 2014, available at GordonNembhard Co-opBenefits Final2014.pdf (geo.coop).
3 World Council of Credit Unions, Statistical Report, 2007, available at
https://www.woccu.org/documents/2007_Statistical_Report.
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What is more, the District has a rich history of cooperative economics. Mayor Marion Barry
made cooperative development a key feature of his economic development strategy, including a
Commission on Cooperative Economic Development.4 In February 1980, he said:
In Washington, as in every other major urban center in America, we have entire
sections of our city which have been abandoned and neglected by the
mainstream of economic activity… It is time for the citizens of these areas
themselves to become owners and providers of the basic services needed for
daily life. The cooperative movement is just what is needed to provide this
opportunity… We shall encourage consumer groups to establish and operate
consumer cooperatives that will enable consumers to provide themselves
marketplace alternatives and to provide a competitive spur to profit-oriented
enterprises.5
Cooperatives and other forms of economic democracy have been key tactics of Black economic
liberation and survival, in the District and beyond.4 This legislation would set the District on a
trajectory to reinvigorate Marion Barry’s economic legacy and building wealth directly within
the communities that need it most.
I look forward to working with my colleagues on the Council and in the Executive to revive
cooperative economics in the District and support the city’s small businesses and workers. Please
contact my Policy Analyst Sam Bonar at sbonar@dccouncil.gov if you have any questions about
this legislation.
Sincerely,
Zachary Parker
Ward 5 Councilmember
Chair, Committee on Youth Affairs
4 Johanna Bockman, Home Rule from Below: The Cooperative Movement in Washington, DC, George
Mason University, August 31, 2014, available at https://acresofancestry.org/wp-
content/uploads/2022/09/2014-Bockman-Home-Rule-From-Below.pdf.
5 Library of Congress, Manuscript Room, Civil Rights During the Carter Administration, 1977-1981,
Part: 1 Papers of the Special Assistant for Black Affairs, Section B, Microfilm: 23,401, Reel 11. PPDF
newsletter, Vol. 1, No. 1, March 1980.
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_____________________________ 2
Councilmember Zachary Parker 3
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A BILL 6
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_________________________ 8
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IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 10
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To amend the District of Columbia Consumer Protection Procedures Act to require the 15
Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection to establish a program to survey the 16
business ecosystem and create a city-wide strategy for helping District business owners 17
retire and sell to their employees—a process called a worker cooperative conversion. 18
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this 20
act may be cited as the “Opening Worker-Ownership: A New Economic Resilience Strategy 21
(OWNERS) Amendment Act of 2025”. 22
Sec. 2. The District of Columbia Consumer Protection Procedures Act (D.C. Law 1-76; D.C. 23
Official Code § 28–3902) is amended by inserting a new section (3A) to read as follows: 24
“Sec. 3A. Potential Business Closures Survey and Worker Cooperative Report 25
“(a) For the purposes of this section, the term: 26
“(1) “Alternative ownership model” means private or corporate ownership that 27
significantly shifts economic value and decision-making power toward non-investor 28
stakeholders, including workers, producers, consumers, and community members; 29
“(2) “Asset opportunity” means an LLC registered in DC, often associated with 30
ownership of a single property address, that has a property where either 1) a commercial or 31
residential unit has been vacant or without construction permits for over a year, 2) the property is 32
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behind on its property taxes, or 3) consistently has an fines levied on it by DLCP, DOH, DPW, 33
DOB, or other relevant city agencies (even if those fines are paid or contested); 34
“(3) “Coalition” means a diverse and multi-stakeholder of interests with 35
representation from local organizations and a group of at least 5 local residents; 36
“(4) “Collaborative grant” means a grant issued jointly to a Coalition or jointly to 37
three signer organizations 38
“(5) “Communicate and Follow-up” means use a combination of communication 39
methods to inform of events or opportunities at least 3 days ahead of the relevant moment, 40
including text, call/voicemail, mail, and flyers posted on poles in a relevant area; 41
“(6) “Community-ownership” means a project, wealth-building asset, coalition, or 42
business that is majority-controlled and majority-owned by its employees, residents, or an 43
equitable multi-stakeholder governance structure; 44
“(7) “Demonstrated community need” means a coverage gap of disproportionate 45
distance for critical community need, including grocery stores, farmers markers, or other points 46
of access to fresh food; childcare and senior care; and parks, libraries, or other low-barrier 47
gathering places. 48
“(8) “Informal trusted leader” means a hyper-local leader who is perceived to be a 49
trusted messenger in their immediate (<.5 mile) community, including pastors, volunteer cleanup 50
organizers, peace-advocates, candy ladies who take care of and feed youth in the community, 51
neighbors who flyer, text, or otherwise share information. 52
“(9) “Local economic infrastructure” means legal structures and entities to build 53
and facilitate technical, legal, social, and financial wealth of low-wealth DC residents, including 54
land banks, community-owned and mutual insurance, mutual credit cleaning, labor market apps 55
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or websites for DC residents to post skills and employers to share gigs with a focus on in-56
demand labor categories, investment marketplaces as a public service or community-owned 57
utility. 58
“(10) “Local entity” means an organization operating in the District in which 59
either 75% or more of its ownership, controlling interest, and membership are District residents 60
or the owners or members have consent or letters of support from at least 5 informal trusted 61
leaders; 62
“(11) “Potential business closure” means a business or asset where the ownership 63
or management of that business might be getting ready to retire, close or want to sell due to 64
insolvency, or had its rent recently increased by more than 10%; 65
“(12) “Worker cooperative conversion” means a business deal between the 66
owners of a business and the employees of that business where ownership sells the business to a 67
democratically-controlled entity owned by the employees, a Limited Cooperative Association, a 68
General Cooperative Association, or converts to at least 51% employee-control through a local 69
nonprofit developer, CDFI, or purpose trust that is worker-owned and democratically-controlled 70
provided they provide startup and ongoing technical and legal assistance; 71
“(b) By November 1, 2025, the Department shall conduct and release the results of a 72
survey of business owners, local entities undergoing worker cooperative conversions, and 73
employees. The survey shall seek to ascertain: 74
“(1) What business owners are interested in retirement, closing businesses, or 75
selling/buying businesses, and why; 76
“(2) What opportunities exist for the Department and other District agencies to 77
support worker cooperative conversions; 78
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“(3) A list of asset opportunities and potential business closures that could 79
strengthen the economy if they were to go through worker cooperative conversions or be 80
converted to community-ownership, as well as a framework for regularly updating the list; and 81
“(4) A list of existing limited cooperative associations. 82
“(c) By March 1, 2026, the Department shall product a report detailing: 83
“(1) Policy recommendations that reflect input from at least 5 community 84
members, including at least 3 that focus on low-income and low-wealth workers from 85
historically marginalized, low-wealth, and under-invested communities; 86
“(2) The Department and other District agencies’ existing capacity for deal-87
making, financing, and organizational policy; 88
“(3) The Department and the District’s strategy for engaging with the United 89
States Department of Labor's employee ownership office, qualified community members, local 90
legal foundations and organizations that could mobilize technical and legal capacity for business 91
deals, and regional experts on program development internal to the city/Department for worker 92
cooperative conversions; and 93
“(4) A long-term strategy for developing a robust cooperative and community 94
wealth building infrastructure in the District, including: 95
“(A) How the Department can help identify potential business closures or 96
asset opportunities that are good candidates for worker cooperative conversions and how to 97
notify and educate businesses about worker cooperative conversions, ideally during their 98
licensing and registration processes or tax-paying processes 99
“(B) How the Department and other agencies can make it easier, cheaper, 100
and less bureaucratic for coalitions to secure financing and buy asset opportunities, including 101
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alternative ownership governance frameworks and new entities or simplified licensing 102
categories; 103
“(C) How the Department and other agencies can use collaborative grants 104
to support economic infrastructure or nonprofit purpose trusts; 105
“(D) Potential policy frameworks to support coalitions, community wealth 106
building, and alternative ownership models, such as a tax credit for worker cooperative 107
conversion feasibility studies, a tax credit for the transaction costs of a worker cooperative 108
conversion, expanded collateral guarantee programs to cover worker cooperative conversions, 109
government-provided bank accounts, land banks, community-owned insurance, revolving loan 110
funds, and mutual credit clearing; 111
“(E) How the District can expand worker cooperatives in high-demand 112
trades and skills with demonstrated First Source local labor shortages; 113
“(F) Ongoing back-office, accounting, insurance, payroll, technical 114
assistance, feasibility studying, and/or legal supports and systems needed for business-owners 115
looking to sell to their employees or communities and for the employees to be prepared to take 116
over the business and participate in workplace democracy; 117
“(G) Options for a process for the city to provide these ongoing supports 118
for Worker Cooperative Conversions, including letting intermediaries steward the process or act 119
as holding companies, provided that the intermediaries provide financial and technical assistance 120
and the deal converts to majority worker-ownership and worker-control within 10 years; and 121
“(H) Options for matching or investing in a fund for worker organizing 122
and technical assistance. 123
Sec. 3. Fiscal impact statement. 124
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The Council adopts the fiscal impact statement in the committee report as the fiscal 125
impact statement required by section 4a of the General Legislative Procedures Act of 1975, 126
approved October 16, 2006 (120 Stat. 2038; D.C. Official Code § 1-301.47a). 127
Sec. 4. Effective date. 128
This act shall take effect after approval by the Mayor (or in the event of veto by the 129
Mayor, action by the Council to override the veto), a 30-day period of congressional review as 130
provided in section 602(c)(1) of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, approved December 131
24, 1973 (87 Stat. 813; D.C. Official Code § 1-206.02(c)(1)), and publication in the District of 132
Columbia Register. 133