INVEST IN YOUR VALUES! HELP US RAISE A FINAL $70,000 FOR OPERATING CAPITAL
Invest in Wellspring Harvest and help to grow a sustainable and resilient local food system, create good jobs, worker ownership, and community wealth building. The Wellspring Investment Fund is raising money to build Wellspring Harvest, a hydroponic greenhouse and community agricultural learning center in Indian Orchard.
Wellspring Investment Fund raised $247,000 through this Direct Public Offering that helped to leverage $500,000 in loans to finance equipment and construction of the greenhouse. These funds were raised from 54 investors interested in putting their savings towards improving their community. This public offering has been extended to raise an additional $70,000 in operating capital that will be matched by additional loans and donations.
We are seeking investments of a minimum of $1,000 ($5,000 for qualified investors) with a minimum five (5) year term at 3% interest paid after two years.
COMMERCIAL HYDROPONIC GREENHOUSE
The Wellspring Harvest is a worker-owned cooperative that will operate a commercial hydroponic greenhouse in Springfield, MA, supplying fresh greens all year round to institutional, retail and local community markets. Intent to purchase letters have been signed with Baystate Medical Center, Springfield and Worcester Public Schools, Squash Trucking, Big Y, and River Valley and Franklin Community food coops.
The greenhouse will contribute to the much needed economic vitality and rejuvenation of the Indian Orchard neighborhood by creating at least nine jobs. Wellspring Harvest will play the role of catalyst for a healthy food preparation facility and a consumer food cooperative, which are natural annexes to the greenhouse. The job creation potential of such facilities significantly amplifies those directly created by the greenhouse itself.
The Cooperative will offer not only living-wages to its workers but also the opportunity to build meaningful equity in the company. Over the first ten-year period, we estimate that Worker Equity accounts will total over $500,000 in addition to total Cash Distributions of over $90,000.
Finally, the business model is strengthened by the support of the anchor institutions in and around Springfield, all vested in the development and well-being of the city’s residents.
COMMUNITY AGRICULTURE LEARNING CENTER
The Cooperative also plans to develop a certification program that will allow students from local high schools, community colleges and universities to acquire practical and “in-demand” skills to operate and manage a growing number of hydroponic projects nationwide.
The site will serve as a laboratory for the community and students to gain hands on experience in urban agriculture. The community and educators are already involved in providing input into the site plan and how it can be used for projects such as community gardens, edible landscapes, composting, vermiculture, aquaponics, and energy production through a bio-digester.
BROADER IMPACT
Wellspring Harvest Greenhouse is part of the broader agenda of the Wellspring Cooperative Corporation to create a network of community-based, worker-owned companies in inner-city Springfield, MA based on the purchasing power of area anchor institutions – the colleges, universities, and hospitals – that purchase more than $1.5 billion worth of goods and services a year, largely from outside the region. A number of these anchor institutions are Wellspring partners, including Baystate Health, Sisters of Providence Health System, University of Massachusetts, Western New England University and Springfield Technical Community College.
The 5 year goal of the Wellspring Cooperative is to create over 100 jobs through 10 worker-owned companies. There are a number of businesses in development and Wellspring Harvest is the second worker-owned cooperative that Wellspring Cooperative has incubated. The first cooperative, Wellspring Upholstery, started in 2014, and is doing well and has 6 workers, 3 of whom have already become members of their cooperative.
AN OPPORTUNITY TO INVEST IN YOUR VALUES
READY TO TAKE THE NEXT STEP?
If you want to take the next step, take a look at the right hand column. You will find a link to the prospectus which lays out all the terms and the subscription agreement which is what you will fill out. You can send the subscription agreement along with a check to the address provided. Please contact us if you have any questions.
