Operations: Finance and Law in Cooperative Enterprises

Given the growing field of organizations and efforts to build community-controlled forms of economic development in the United States, there is an unparalleled need for practitioners to develop the financial and legal skills necessary to support such work. This course will provide students with an understanding of operations in cooperative environments. This will include summarizing budgets, tax policy, loan structure, depreciation, state and local laws involving cooperative enterprises, and profit-sharing. Particular focus will be given to interpreting case studies dealing with conversions – whether from sole proprietorships to cooperative enterprises, or from private housing to collective housing. The course have students understand and apply concepts such as: asset turnover ratio; ESOPS, sweat equity, 1042 rollover, blanket mortgages, depreciation tables, LLC designations versus Cooperative Corp designation.

Fall, Spring