cooperative business advising

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Our staff and consultants bring experience and insight to all aspects of starting and running a cooperatively-owned business.
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CoNorth excels at analyzing and diagnosing our clients’ needs.

We specialize in cooperative assistance and support for housing cooperatives.

We work with new and established co-ops—including resident-owned manufactured home communities—as well as housing partners exploring cooperative ownership models.

Our team brings deep expertise in cooperative governance, real estate, finance, community organizing, and long-term stewardship. From pre-development planning to ongoing member support, we provide tailored guidance to help cooperative housing thrive.

If you're looking for assistance with other types of cooperatives (e.g., worker, consumer, or agricultural), we’re part of a strong national network and are happy to connect you with the right resource.

Please fill out this form to request assistance.

You may also find helpful contacts and resources via CooperationWorks.

How it Works:

Request Assistance

Submit a short intake form to tell us about your needs.

Initial Review

Within two weeks, we’ll follow up with resources or schedule a conversation.

Pro Bono Support

We may offer 5–10 hours of no-cost assistance to assess your project.

Next Steps

We help you develop an action plan and, if needed, prepare a service contract or funding proposal to support ongoing work.
We’re committed to ensuring every cooperative effort gets the support it needs—whether through CoNorth or our partners in the field. Examples of our services include:
  • Diagnostic needs and issues assessment
  • Referrals to legal, accounting, and other professional service providers
  • Research
  • Making connections with other cooperatives
  • Designing a fundraising strategy
  • Researching an operational issue such as a personnel policy
  • Financial analysis and set-up of accounting structure and processes
  • Legal structuring and organizational documents (Bylaws, Articles of Incorporation)
  • Identifying/ securing grant funds
  • Feasibility assessment
  • Market research and marketing plans
  • Performance evaluation
  • Webinars on all aspects of cooperative development
  • Communication planning
  • Business planning
  • Membership development
  • Organizational development: developing committees, membership drives, training for boards, staff, and members, strategic planning, conflict management, inclusion and diversity
  • Constructing a financing package
  • Fiscal sponsorship
Contact us for more information about cooperative assistance services.
Email Ussam@conorth.coop