The Executive Summary of Our Business Plan

Chattanooga.Digital deploys, maintains, and supports free open source software (FOSS), making it easy and economical for our members to access, own, and use. Our members are people who want to get and use tech, value control over their information, flexible, functional technology, personal autonomy, privacy, and security, and seek to connect and collaborate with others. Our stakeholders are those who want a broader, deeper, more diverse tech talent pool, flourishing, tech-enabled small businesses, and a robust local tech ecosystem; those who want to empower community members and keep spending local.

Technically, Chattanooga.Digital is a non-profit platform-as-a-service. We are cooperatively owned by and democratically controlled by our members. We two classes of members: customers and providers. Customers get any free, off-the-shelf, open source software they need via a single account sign-on without sacrificing privacy or risking security. Providers work on and with software for customers and get the same member services as customers.

Members pay an annual membership fee and a monthly utilization fee based on how much compute they use to cover operating costs of the coop without excess overhead or profits. They can reduce their costs by bringing in more members — overall costs per member decrease as membership increases — by helping with administration, operations, outreach, or support, or by reducing usage. The coop charges members a support fee for deploying applications, for managing projects to configure, customize, develop their software, and for support levels above ensuring apps are reachable.

Charter members purchase credits that can be redeemed for services in the future. Members can also earn credits by doing work for the cooperative. Any excess revenue will be reinvested in the business, returned to members as dividends, or used to recover credits. We expect Chattanooga.Digital will need approximately $500,000 in startup capital over two years and approximately $1,000,000 annually for operating capital.

As a cooperative, members own and control Chattanooga.Digital. They elect board members and vote on annual budgets and plans. The board oversees execution and spending and is responsible for hiring staff and setting rates. Staff prepare budgets and plans and then, once accepted by the board executes the plans based on the budget. Members may initiate projects and request apps that are outside the plan as long as they are willing to cover the costs. Collaboration among members creates synergies and new opportunities for Chattanooga.Digital and reduces members’ project costs.

We seek to develop a large, diverse advisory council of persons from across the community, especially entrepreneurs and small business owners, to advise, advocate for, promote, and provide specialized expertise for Chattanooga.Digital as we start up. A steering committee will be assembled from members of the council to serve as the initial board of directors. Pilot members will anchor the advisory council, determine apps and services to be included in Chattanooga.Digital’s initial portfolio, and help to refine our vision, purpose, mission, and goals.