Background and Personal History: The Institute was founded in 1994 with the explicit mission:

To foster an inter-dependent dense network of enterprises and institutions that allow us to meet our needs through principled democratic ownership, and that care for community, combat injustice and inequity, and promote conscious self-governance. The cooperative economy is embedded within and helps create a cooperative society aware of its place in a cooperative ecology.

Current Projects: Business Ownership Solutions (BOS) works with business owners to think through whether conversion to a cooperative could meet their needs, and with employees or community members to execute the co-op conversion.

As part of our long-term strategic vision for affordable housing development in the northeast, CDI is committed to assisting owners of manufactured homes in New England (Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, Connecticut, and Maine) gain long-term control over their communities. Through the NEROC Program, CDI helps owners of manufactured homes who live in rental communities to preserve and protect their homes by securing land tenure. Residents achieve ownership and control in the form of collectively organized nonprofit cooperatives that purchase and manage their manufactured home parks.

Other Fun Facts: Since the NEROC program started in late 2009, CDI has assisted in the conversion of 22 communities and continues to provide ongoing technical assistance to these and five additional cooperatives, amounting to a total of over 2,300 homes.

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