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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Shelley Miller, Director of New Ownership Opportunities at ICA Group
2:42:18
ยท
148 sec
Shelley Miller, representing the ICA Group, testified in support of continued funding for the Worker Cooperative Business Development Initiative (WCBDI). She highlighted the initiative's success in creating jobs, supporting entrepreneurs, and establishing worker-owned cooperatives that offer better wages and working conditions, particularly benefiting marginalized communities.
- The WCBDI has created over 1,000 jobs and nearly 200 worker co-op businesses since 2014
- Worker co-ops have shown resilience during the pandemic, being more sustainable than comparable small businesses
- Miller requested continued support and an increase in funding to $5,000,000 for the initiative
Shelley Miller
2:42:18
Yes.
2:42:19
Thank you, and good day.
2:42:24
I first want to say good afternoon and thank you to your person, Minnen, and distinguished members of the committee for work in consumer protection.
2:42:34
I'm Shelley Miller, director of new ownership opportunities for the ICA group.
2:42:39
We are worker co op developers, advocates, and educators, and one of the original founders of the New York City worker co op business development initiative known as WCDDI, established in 2014.
2:42:51
And I'm here today with my colleagues in the initiative to ask the council to continue for the wonderful support you've given us over the last ten years and to continue us in next year's budget and firmly into the future.
2:43:05
As you may already know, the initiative has helped create over a thousand jobs.
2:43:09
More than 9,000 entrepreneurs have been reached with education and technical assistance, and we've created nearly 200 worker co op businesses that offer higher hourly wages, better working conditions, and benefits, and build wealth and equity for workers, particularly those from marginal groups, black and brown communities, a lot more women owned businesses and immigrant owned businesses, which is really important in today's atmosphere.
2:43:37
Another notable quality is that more and more CBOs are becoming interested in helping to develop worker co ops for clients they serve who face employment barriers so they can help to employ their own graduates, people with disabilities, the homeless, disaffected youth, and veterans, recovering substance abuses, and those who are recovering from domestic abuse, and that's a new area that we are working with as well.
2:44:04
We're working to make these businesses more and more sustainable.
2:44:07
As during the pandemic, they showed that they were both more resilient and more sustainable than many other comparable small businesses.
2:44:16
So the TA that we provided to them during that time and that we only provide during the old time
Winston Berkman-Breen
2:44:22
Not very spy.
UNKNOWN
2:44:23
Thank you.
Shelley Miller
2:44:23
To these businesses.
2:44:26
If if I'm out of town, I just wanna say in closing that we wanna ask the council to, continue to fund us and to enhance our funding to, 5,000,000, and $12.
Julie Menin
2:44:39
Okay.
Christopher Leon Johnson
2:44:39
We can
Julie Menin
2:44:39
I'm sorry.
2:44:40
You're gonna have to wrap up.
2:44:41
We have to give everyone the exact same
Shelley Miller
2:44:43
amount of
Salua Baida
2:44:43
so much.
Julie Menin
2:44:43
Thank you
Shelley Miller
2:44:44
very much.
2:44:45
And that's it.
Julie Menin
2:44:46
Thank you.