New Roots Worker Co-operative

New Roots Worker Cooperative is the only worker cooperative treeplanting company in British Columbia, operating out of the lands of the Secwepemc (Shuswap) Nation, and the town of 100-Mile House. We offer a uniquely professionalized approach to silviculture through our team of industry veterans, in support of the needs of our local community, and in keeping with the health of our environment.

Company History

Tree Amigos, the company that would later become New Roots Worker Cooperative, was founded in 100 Mile House, BC, in 2014, by Dani Meade. It was her effort to make “something new” in the planting industry. Around the campfire, planters used to talk about what would happen when they ran the company, but those grand ideas rarely came to be. Dani decided to put action to words, and Tree Amigos Contracting was born.

The early years of Tree Amigos saw successes and setbacks, but the company stayed committed to its vision of people-centric planting and high quality work. In 2017, a new idea emerged: democratic ownership and oversight through the cooperative model. Planting cooperatives had existed in the past, but were surprisingly absent from the current B.C. sector.

In January, 2018, a provisional committee formed to explore the idea of cooperatization. It was headed by Ben Prunty, an activist, organizer and tree planter from Montreal who had served as President of the Concordia Student’s Union, and had helped to found numerous cooperative organizations in the city. With his guidance, the project began to take shape.

Over the course of the next two years, countless hours of meetings, conversations, decisions and hard work culminated in the founding assembly of Tree Amigos Woker’s Cooperative, in November, 2019. Collectively, its membership had purchased the old company, transformed it, and established a new model for worker-ownership in the planting industry.

Our organization now boasts over two dozen members across Canada and maintains a successful planting operation in the south Cariboo. We changed our name in 2021 to New Roots Worker Cooperative, to reflect our growth as an organization and represent our grounded commitment to worker empowerment.

Company Facts

A worker cooperative is a democratically-operated company that is owned and operated by its members. The workers of the company are the only ones who are offered membership, which is an open and voluntary process. A worker cooperative generally exists for two purposes: To fill a gap in a social need and/or market, and to provide good jobs for its members.

The way it works? After someone is employed by the company and becomes a worker, they are offered membership via the signing of a membership agreement, and the purchasing of company shares. You don’t have to be a member to work at New Roots, but members, and those who wish to acquire membership, will always be prioritized for hires and opportunities.