Welcome back to the poor proz almanac, and today we're joined by the team at ACENet, or the Appalachian Center for Economic Networks.

They're a community-based economic development organization that serves 32 counties of Appalachia, Ohio.

Their focus is around community canning and kitchen processing for startups interested in selling canned and processed goods.

Now, the AesNet staff offers wraparound services.

They do business development, as well as business planning, so folks can figure out how to get

where they want to go.

Building small businesses through a collective organization like this helps build networks

within communities and develops general resilience.

As an accountant and advocate for cooperative model businesses, their unique structure peaked

by interest and I was excited to get to talk to them about what this looks like in practice.

And more importantly, can this model be replicated

across the country so take a listen as we discuss how their organization functions

and what roles projects like this have in creating a more equitable economy

thanks so much for joining us.

I've got a crew from AesNet today, and I'm really excited to hear about what you guys are doing, a bit about the organization, and I guess where it came from.

Sure.

Well, thank you, Andy, for having us, the full crew here.

And AesNet has actually been around for a little while.

We are getting ready to celebrate our 40th year in existence.

The organization was founded back in 1985 in Athens, Ohio.

It was originally known as the Worker Own Network.

And with a name like that, you could probably expect that, you know, the original mission

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