Starting a community and artist cooperative
After months of planning and groundwork, a new community cooperative is taking shape here in Stromness. The Sorting Room will be a “social enterprise”, meaning a business whose profits benefit the community both by helping artists get a fair wage and by creating a space that everyone can be a part of.
Social enterprises are exactly the kind of clients I want to work with. It’s not a non-profit, and it’s not a standard business — it’s somewhere in between, and I believe it’s the most fulfilling and sustainable way to do business.
But social enterprises are still pretty new, so we’ve got a lot to prove.
The Sorting Room
My fellow American Debbie Jones told me about her idea a while back, explaining that she’d managed to lease a dilapidated old post office sorting room where she wanted to set up her new pottery business. Since it’s such a big space, she loved the idea of having other people be able to use it — for making their own art, hanging out, music, and even hopefully coffee!
After getting such an enthusiastic response from a lot of local people, she and her husband Andrew embarked on this quest for turning the idea into reality.
Now we’re a group of about 12 working on getting ourselves set up as an official cooperative. More members will join once we get up and running, but it’s down to us to make this happen. As a cooperative, all members get a share of any profits, and we do all the work pretty much too.
What I’m excited about is having a community space that’s actually a cool place to be, somewhere I can do some knitting or sell my carved knitting needles, or learn how to throw a pot or just hang out and chat with my neighbours who I’m still getting to know.
I’m also excited about proving that you can run a successful business whose goals are about making the world a better place, who puts their money where their mouth is.
I’m working on the logo and branding for The Sorting Room now, and will show those here once I’ve finished them. We’re set to open at the end of May for the Orkney Folk Festival, and there’s so, so much to be done by then!
