This presentation will examine the role of the Unleashing Local Capital Project to increase local investing in Alberta by establishing Opportunity Development Co-operatives. We will discuss the role of intermediaries to support innovators at the grass-roots level, connect with technical experts and existing local investing regimes, and to build networks and resources that will assist the creation of Opportunity Development Co-operatives in other communities.

 

We will also focus on the role of the co-operative structure to facilitate local investing and the potential to create transformational change in the local economy.

Paul Cabaj is the Director of Co-op Development with the Alberta Community and Co-operative Association (ACCA). He was involved as a researcher in two BALTA research projects that contributed greatly to the development of Unleashing Local Capital.

 

Seth Leon is a research officer at the Alberta Community and Co-operative Association. He is also a member of the Unleashing Local Capital steering committee, and is currently working on a co-operative development project with First Nations and Métis Communities.