The CO-OP
BY THE PEOPLE, FOR THE PEOPLE
MISSION
To design, build, and maintain beautiful healthy outdoor spaces that enrich the lives of our co-workers, our clients, and our community.
VISION
We are continually building a fun, healthy, and just workplace. We are landscape artists and co-creators of nature. We all contribute our ideas and effort, and we all benefit. We reinvest in our business so that we can create dignified work for others. We earn what we need to support our loved ones and to share with the less fortunate. We learn from and work in harmony with natural systems. We are growing together, respectfully challenging each other, so that we can all be our best. We change lives every day.
VALUES
Customer Satisfaction / Satisfacción del Cliente
Integrity / Integridad
Opportunity / Oportunidad
Justice / Justícia
Put People First / Primero la Gente
Care for the Environment /Ambientalmente Agradable
Gratitude / Gratitud
As worker-owners, landscaping is not just a job – it’s our business. With an average tenure of over 10 years with the company, we bring commitment and experience to every project. We are an unusual group of green-industry business owners – predominantly Central American immigrants and women – and we are grateful for the opportunities the co-op provides.
We’re not the co-op to get rich – cooperatives are not organized with the intention of maximizing shareholder profits. Although we are a for-profit cooperative corporation, we measure ourselves by a “triple-bottom-line” of people, planet, and profit. We make choices like avoiding using synthetic chemicals; investing in low-noise, low-emissions equipment; and paying a living wage to entry-level employees. These choices may cost us more in the short term, but we believe that the safety of clients and co-workers, the health of our planet, and the investment in quality people who will become our future co-owners is worthwhile.
BECOMING A MEMBER
Membership is limited to current employees of A Yard & A Half. Because ownership is a big responsibility, when you become an owner-track employee, you will participate in training to learn the basics of democratic participation, cooperative finance, and business strategy, as well as ongoing professional education to ensure your future success in the coop. Employees become eligible for membership after two seasons of employment (seasonal, part-time over 20 hrs/wk, or full-time) with A Yard & A Half. A current Worker-Owner must propose the employee as a candidate for membership, and the candidate must be approved by a majority vote of Worker-Owners. Candidates agree to purchase one share of voting common stock, which does not appreciate or depreciate. After being accepted as a member and paying 50% of the buy-in, new worker-owners enjoy full voting rights and are eligible for patronage dividends. The balance of the share may be paid by payroll deductions.