TechCollective came into existence after a group of like-minded people, all of whom were involved in the high-tech industry, got together and reached an agreement. This agreement was that if those who were actually doing the tech work would be willing to get involved in the management of the business, then there would be no need to have separate managers at all. In other words, we the workers could be our own bosses.

Labor collectives or cooperatives (co-ops) have been in existence for a long time. Collectives originally could be found mostly in the agricultural industry but soon expanded to other areas as well, including hospitality, factories, hospitals and schools---the list goes on and on. While there is some argument towards the difficulty of forming a cooperative in the manufacturing sense, the service sector has an incredibly easy time. After all, the resources to manage here are not really physical, but intellectual. Therefore, the skills that the members of TechCollective have acquired in our brains accumulated over the many years of tech work and the enthusiasm for high tech in our hearts are all that are needed to run the business. This is how TechCollective, a tech cooperative was formed.

Our co-op is made of people from a wide range of skills and experience. We have the Linux gurus, the Windows magicians, the hardware wizards, the Mac mavens, the mad coder, and for good measures, a techie with a strong background in business. Our members are committed to share with each other the skills each has acquired over the years of being the grease monkeys in the tech world. We all have scars and stories to prove our worthiness.

While we here at TechCollective welcome business from all members of the public, our main targets are those whom we believe have been under-served by the tech industry. These people and groups are the least likely to use technology to better their lives and businesses. The list includes the Luddites, those who cannot afford expensive tech support, underprivileged folks, and anyone who falls through the crack of the digital divide. We at TechCollective find it shameful that in a country that is as technologically advanced as the USA, there are still millions who are although capable as any others, but for some reason still rely on old and inefficient methods to acquire, process, maintain, and dispense information. Much like the hungry masses craving for a decent meal, these people are so much in need of a meal of high technology that has been taken for granted by so many of their neighbors.

Our business model at TechCollective is simple. After the expenses have been paid, whatever revenue remains goes back to the workers. Moreover, some of the surplus is reserved for special projects where we would go to low-income schools and community centers to help upgrade their information technology infrastructure. We are particularly keen on using and creating our own open-source software. We believe that everyone has the right to create and modify software to improve it for their own needs. Also, we encourage the ethical use of technology. Going green is our goal here at TechCollective. Open-source software like Linux and FreeBSD can run well on older hardware, making it unnecessary to discard older toxic computer parts just to run the latest and greatest applications.

We would like the world to share our vision of a better, cleaner, and egalitarian high-tech future. Let's work together. Remember, there is no I in IT.