Evergreen Cooperative Laundry (ECL) announced a major expansion today in collaboration with Ohio’s second largest employer, taking over management of the Cleveland Clinic’s laundry facility in Cleveland’s Collinwood neighborhood. The expansion brings more than 100 new employees into the company, joining the 50 workers employed at the original laundry. (The Cleveland Clinic is a member of the Healthcare Anchor Network.)
ECL is part of the Evergreen Cooperatives, a nationally celebrated network of companies in Cleveland, Ohio, that creates jobs and builds community wealth through cooperative business ownership. These businesses are located in historically disinvested neighborhoods. For Brett Jones, Executive Vice President at the Evergreen Cooperatives, “this expansion validates the core idea at the heart of the Evergreen model—that businesses owned by workers can succeed and thrive in the market, helping close the wealth gap.”
By shifting the contract for the operations of this facility to ECL, Cleveland Clinicis using its economic resources—in this case, where it services more than 19 million lbs of its laundry each year—to build a stronger local economy.
Ralph Turner, executive director of patient support services at Cleveland Clinic, said “We are proud of this new collaboration with Evergreen Cooperatives because of the impact it will have on the local community. We see this as an important step we can take to support the health and wellbeing of our neighbors, including the ECL employees.”
Read more about the expansion in Next City: “Turning Health Care into Community Wealth in Cleveland”
Read the press release.