EVSE Worker Co-Operative in Crenshaw: A Feasibility Study
This report was created to aid future business plans to build local Black-centered and -led cooperative businesses that will maintain sustainable growth, pay livable wages, and operate under eco-friendly standards. The student researcher’s client is Downtown Crenshaw Rising (DCR) and Worker Ownership Resources and Cooperative Services (WORCS). Her overall research question is: What is the feasibility of establishing and maintaining a manufacturing worker-owned cooperative in the Crenshaw District and South Los Angeles area?
The client had an interest in producing electric vehicle charging stations because of the federal goal to create a network of 500,000 EV chargers by 2030 across America’s highways and communities. Federal dollars are flowing to support its production, largely in California.
The study revealed three related primary barriers to open this cooperative: 1) the capital-intensive nature of the business, 2) the lack of experience in EVSE manufacturing within the Crenshaw community, and 3) that this lack of experience reduces opportunities for alternative sources of capital. As of now, the feasibility of my client creating a manufacturing cooperative to produce electric vehicle charging stations is very low.
