Start-up Links

Starting a small business

United States Small Business Administration
The SBA Web site provides aid, counsel, and assistance for small businesses in the start-up phase and beyond.

Library of Congress Business Reference Services
- Entrepreneur’s Reference Guide to Small Business Information
- Financing Small Business Enterprises

morebusiness.com
By entrepreneurs, for entrepreneurs. Offers assistance for start-up, incorporation, building a web site, finding funding, marking products and services, and managing staff.

Starting a worker cooperative

National Cooperative Business Association
NCBA is a U.S. organization strengthening the cooperative form of business to empower people and improve quality of life worldwide.

National Cooperative Bank
NCB provides comprehensive financial services to cooperatives and other member-owned organizations throughout the country.

United States Federation of Worker Cooperatives
USFWC is a national grassroots membership organization of and for worker cooperatives, other democratic workplaces, and the organizations which support the growth and continued development of worker cooperatives.

Worker Cooperatives in America
By Robert Jackall and Henry M. Levin. University of California Press.

Starting a chartered school

Center for Education Reform
CER supports a number of reform initiatives, including charter schools. See "Groups and Contacts" and "From the States" to seek resources for people seeking to establish charter schools in their communities.

EdVisions Schools
EdVisions Schools helps local communities across the country create and sustain great small schools. These innovative schools are teacher-led and use personalized project learning to help students prepare for college, careers and global citizenship.

National Charter School Clearinghouse
NCSC assists in the development, promotion, and improvement of dynamic, innovative, and successful charter schools in the United States. NCSC makes it easy to get the most current and relevant funding and research information on critical issues facing charter schools. NCSC also provides technical assistance, mentoring, and collaboration opportunities for public charter schools across the nation.

US Charter Schools
The US Charter Schools Web site is a valuable source of information for charter school developers, operators, parents, researchers, and policy makers. Specifically, the Web site provides a wide range of information and links to resources to guide charter schools in every phase of their development, from start-up, to expansion, to renewal. It also provides a "community exchange" environment that allows for discussion and the exchange of ideas between schools and various support providers.

In Milwaukee: TALC New Vision (Technical Assistance and Resource Center)
TALC New Vision assists leaders creating new small schools in Milwaukee from the visioning process through the school’s opening and first two years of operation. TALC has worked with a number of the schools managed by teacher cooperatives in Milwaukee.