Cooperative Maine Business Alliance is a statewide network that helps cooperatives connect to each other and to be a larger movement. Started in 2007, we have created opportunities for cooperatives and the public to learn about and support a cooperative economy through conferences, workshops, advocacy and outreach. Maine is becoming a national model for developing a cooperative economy, thanks to on-the-ground work of many cooperative members, advocates, developers and financiers. This network has created a whole new generation of innovative cooperative- and employee-owned enterprises that are addressing the need for good jobs, affordable housing and a healthy and dynamic local food system. However, to fully realize the potential of a cooperative economy and take it to scale, there is more we must do. Cooperatively owned businesses are a key to growing Maine’s Future economy, reversing demographic decline, and promoting widely-shared prosperity in the state. They point the way to more stability – and with that, the dignity and freedom that come from greater economic security.