How Co-op Accelerators and Incubators Are Supercharging a Worker-Owned Economy

Summary

In southern Oregon, Annie Hoy was about to head to the third training session for entrants in her contest for startups — but she wasn’t sure if she’d reach her goal of five applicants by the mid-August deadline.

Getting entrepreneurs to throw their hats in the ring was taking a bit more hand-holding than in Silicon Valley, where you can’t toss an iPhone without knocking a fledgling founder in the head. That’s not just because Hoy’s prize money, at $3,000, was miniscule compared to the millions offered in some entrepreneur pitch competitions, or because tiny Ashland, whose main economic driver is a well-known Shakespeare festival, lacks a tech startup culture.