WE ARE A worker-owned cooperative
“We approached our staff really early on, talking about the idea of real equality, where everyone's contribution is as important as everyone else's contribution towards that overall success.
For us, when we were starting to grow and expand, we realized that we didn't want to be focusing on communities that were further and further away we really wanted the benefits of our work to be very local, so we hired local people and we work on developing partnerships and relationships with local businesses to help strengthen our community.
In working with Project Equity, we were able to get that expert advice and be able to utilize a lot of their connections to be able to get us so much further along in the direction towards where we want it to be at a fraction of the cost. They helped us all the way through the transition process. And then after we transitioned there their Thrive program allowed us to thrive as a business by supporting both our board, and our management to work better together, in our first year of becoming a co-op.
If you're a business owner, and you have that culture, that family style business where everyone cares about one another and you care as much about your employees as you care about your business, then the idea of employee ownership is absolutely a no brainer. It gives you more flexibility for being able to stay in your business and know that the business that you put your heart and soul into is going to continue on and benefit those people who have built that business.”
- Lars Ortegren, Co-Founder
project equity
Project Equity helped us all the way through the transition process of becoming worker-owned.
Interested in selling your business to your employees? Visit Project Equity to learn more!
“We (worker-owners) have money invested in this company, we actually have a chance to make more money from this company if we’re successful. So instead of just being, you know, still the best solar company around, as an ‘owned’ company, now that we’re worker-owned, we’re the best with a stake in that. We have a reason to continue to improve our bottom line, a reason to pay attention to what we’re doing instead of just clocking in and clocking out.”
The only worker-owned solar co-op in california!
At California Solar, we're not just your local solar experts - we're also your neighbors! As worker-owners of the first-ever solar cooperative in Nevada County and California, we take pride in providing the highest quality solar solutions while supporting the economic vitality of our community.
We believe in hiring and investing locally, and our entire team of worker-owners resides in Nevada County. You might even run into us at the grocery store, little league game, or out on the mountain bike trails on the weekends. As community members ourselves, we're fully invested in your project and committed to ensuring your complete satisfaction. Trust us to provide reliable, sustainable, and cost-effective solar solutions that truly work for you.Learn more about our valuable staff below.