Based in Vancouver, Baseline Graphics was incorporated as a worker co-operative in 1982. Baseline provides distinctive, effective solutions that meet your needs by providing you with quality consulting, design, copywriting and production services. They design work for print, display, the web and other electronic media.

Before Baseline turned itself into a worker co-operative, it was a private business. The workers did not like the way they were being treated. They then found out that the owner was going to lay off the staff. Inspired by the natural and organic wholesale and bakery, CRS Workers’ Cooperative, seven workers at the firm pooled together their money and took over the firm’s lease and equipment.

When David Lach, one of the founders of Baseline, graduated with a mathematics degree, he decided to start a track and field magazine in 1974. This was in lead up to the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympics. With this experience he moved to Vancouver and was hired by a communications firm.

When Baseline was created, the goal was (and still is) for work to be enjoyable and to meet clients’ needs. Starting out as a worker co-operative wasn’t necessarily a smooth process. Lach says that the members argued like crazy in the first year. In the early days, Baseline had meetings every week for a couple of hours. After the first year two members left.

In time though the kinks were ironed out. Baseline now has 5 employees, 3 of whom are members. Since the employees have now worked together for so long and know their roles so well, there is little discussion or meetings like in the beginning.

One of Lach’s fondest memories was surviving all the technology changes over the years in the industry. Baseline started out in type setting. The business drastically changed in the late 1990s with the rise of the Internet. The employees had to learn how to design websites to stay competitive. The first websites they designed were for the Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada and the Co-operative Housing Federation of British Columbia. Now 60% of their business comes from website design and 40% comes from print work.

Another fond memory was making the decision early on in Baseline’s history to increase pay rates to market. This was a difficult decision because all members needed to have the necessary skills to justify charging clients market rates. Members needed to sink or swim. In the end though, the remaining members were being fairly reimbursed for their efforts.

As for the worker co-operative movement in B.C., Lach says that it is weak and that he has no contact with any other worker co-ops in the area. He noted that many worker co-ops over the years have been bought out, including the CRS Workers’ Cooperative.

One of the reasons for this according to Lach is that it is difficult to start a workers co-operative because of the difficulty obtaining the necessary capital. Things have changed over time too. Lach says that nowadays you need more start up capital to compete, whereas Baseline only started out with about $5,000.

“The worker co-op model makes it more difficult to raise money through its workers, whereas retail co-ops like MEC can raise significant sums. In addition, the B.C. Co-operative Act makes raising capital difficult, for you have to go through the securities commission, which is expensive,” says Lach. To help the worker co-operative sector, Lach would like to see a provincial employee share options plan deduction for worker co-ops.

In preparation for retirement, in June Lach will be scaling down his work from full time to 2 days a week. As a baseline, Lach will be a tough act to follow.