The Evergreen businesses are aptly named: all aim to be environmentally sustainable. The Evergreen Laundry, for instance, will be the greenest commercial-scale laundry in Northeast Ohio. The cooperative plans to construct its building to LEED silver certification standards, and it will use energy-efficient washing machines and dryers along with processes to reuse waste heat and water.

These green features give the cooperatives a competitive advantage. Most of the city’s anchor institutions are committed to decreasing their carbon footprints, and doing business with the Evergreen enterprises will help them deliver on their goals.

These co-ops are a good start, but there are many people in Cleveland who need good, stable employment.

So the issue of “moving to scale” is central to Evergreens’ economic development strategy. Put simply, how do you move from 50 jobs to 500, and then to 5,000?