White Electric Coffee opened their doors 21 years ago in Providence’s West Side. Since then, this coffee shop has become a favorite spot for teachers, students, workers, and cafe enthusiasts, leading to a strong and loyal customer base.

As the business grew, a group of workers saw avenues for change. In 2020 their call for more diverse hiring practices, paid time off, and racial sensitivity training led to the formation of a union, operated under the Collaborative Union of Providence Service-workers (CUPS). With a union in place, the founders announced their intention to sell the business. The CUPS workers seized the opportunity and pursued purchasing the cafe and turning it into a workers cooperative.

The idea of a worker’s co-op, where employees have ownership and utilize a democratic decision-making process, stemmed from loving the concept of having an overarching meaning behind control of the workplace. Co-op member Danny Cordova said the worker view was, “If we succeed, that would be awesome and would be a huge win for workplace democracy, and if we failed, then at least we tried.”

Co-op members researched, applied for loans, and raised money from locals who supported the union all along. The passionate community donated $52,000 toward realizing the dream of a worker-owned cafe.

After the business was acquired, the members of the co-op turned to the RISBDC, working with business consultants Josh Daly and Maggie Longo, who directed the members towards the appropriate licenses and trained them on the payroll and banking processes necessary to properly reopen the cafe. White Electric met their goal timeline, reopening on May 1st, 2021 with their loyal customers standing by.

In 2020, White Electric Coffee was the first coffee shop in Rhode Island to unionize. Future plans include hopes to bring back indoor dining, add new creative drinks and gluten-free options to the menu, engage with the local causes to support their community, and expand and continue working for CUPS. Cordova recommends to anyone looking to start a worker-owned co-op, “Find a group of people who are reliable and you can trust. Go around and ask questions and for help… it’s always reassuring knowing that if we ever need help, we have some folks to turn to.”

To learn more about White Electric Coffee Co-Op, visit their website at http://whiteelectriccoffee.com/#thebestcoffee