The Rendezvous is going co-op! We—you, me, us—that is, the workers AND the community are joining together to run the Voo as a multi-stakeholder cooperative. A cooperative of this sort (also called a solidarity cooperative) keeps the money hyper-local, and it allows workers AND community owners to have control of the business and the real estate. Once complete, we will be one of only a few such cooperative restaurants in the country, collaboratively running the Voo—us together.

This change will make it possible for the Voo to be locally controlled for decades to come, with workers and the community owning and controlling the direction of the business. Worker-owners and community-member-owners will vote for a Board of Directors that will be the governing body of the new co-op.

The purpose of the change is to preserve the Voo’s legacy as a community-focused gathering spot, and to cement community and worker control into its mission and financial structure. The new structure centers democratic values and sets a course for the Rendezvous to remain “Turners Falls’ Living Room” far into the future.

By selling the business and real estate to those who know the Voo best and care for it most, the current owners have chosen not to let an out-of-town landlord come in and treat a community resource as a transactional investment that’s sparse on attitude and devoid of uniqueness.

This transition has been in the works since 2018, with the Covid pandemic throwing an especially large wrench into the process. But with a profitability model established under the new proposed ownership, and thanks to the aid of many guides and much assistance from co-op transition experts (including ICA, CDI, and CFNE—all cooperative-development nonprofits), the transition is underway. A Steering Committee made up of both workers and community owners has been working since mid-2024 to do the organizational work necessary to ensure a viable and smooth transition to the new ownership.

As a cooperative, this new iteration of the Voo will look and feel very much like the old Voo. Customers, including those who become co-op members, will probably not notice much of a difference at all, unless they’re on the Board of Directors or showing up for the annual meeting celebration. Workers’ day-to-day tasks and responsibilities will likewise be pretty much as they’ve always been. And you? You’ll still be welcome, and more essential than ever.