Scaling Co-Operatives Through a Multi-Stakeholder Network: A Case Study in the Colorado Solar Energy Industry

Abstract

A new generation of co-operative businesses has struggled to identify pathways to transformative scale in their industries. This case study analyses a multi-stakeholder network of single-stakeholder co-ops that emerged in the Colorado solar energy industry that could be a replicable model for scaling co-operative businesses despite challenges of capital access. To understand how one set of entrepreneurs created national impact through networked co-ops, interviews were conducted with current and former employees of the businesses in the network: Namasté Solar (a worker co-op), Amicus Solar (a purchasing co-op), Amicus O&M (a shared-services co-op), Clean Energy Credit Union (a consumer-owned financial institution), and Kachuwa Impact Fund (a co-op of investors). Through these distinct yet interlocking entities, the network can serve a diverse set of stakeholders while retaining focus at the level of each business.

Keywords: Co-operatives, Business networks, Solar energy, Social entrepreneurship, Sustainability

JEL Classification: P13, J54, L14, G3, Q01