1984
Founding
Carpet Co-op of AmericaHoward Brodsky and Alan Greenberg establish Carpet Co-op of America in Manchester, NH — empowering independent flooring retailers through shared buying power and democratic ownership.
A tireless champion of the cooperative model, Howard has spent four decades proving that independent businesses can achieve extraordinary things when they invest in each other. Under his leadership, CCA Global Partners grew into one of the largest cooperatives in the world — and his vision of “capitalism with a conscience” redefined what collective ownership can achieve.
Alan brought a deeply relational, people-first philosophy to the cooperative from day one. His conviction that trust, transparency, and shared purpose could transform entire industries shaped a culture where members are never just customers — they are co-owners with a real voice.
In 1984, Howard Brodsky and his best friend Alan Greenberg looked at an industry being swallowed by consolidation and asked a simple, powerful question: what if independent business owners didn’t have to go it alone? Their answer was Carpet Co-op of America, founded in Manchester, New Hampshire — a member-owned cooperative where independent flooring retailers pooled their strength while keeping their local identity.
National chains were expanding fast, and independent retailers — many family-owned for generations — faced shrinking margins, limited purchasing power, and no access to the tools their larger competitors wielded. The cooperative changed that. It grew into Carpet One and, eventually, CCA Global Partners: one of the largest cooperatives in the world, serving thousands of members.
The story is remarkably parallel. The challenges independent community management companies face today mirror exactly what independent flooring retailers confronted in the 1980s: national consolidation, rising technology costs, talent shortages, and constant pressure to scale — all while protecting the personal, local service their communities depend on.
In 2012, CCA Global Partners launched Innovia Co-op to bring four decades of cooperative expertise to the community association management industry. Independent managers gain collective purchasing power, shared technology, peer wisdom, and a national network — without ever giving up their name, their culture, or their ownership.
The most powerful thing you can do for an independent business owner is show them they don’t have to choose between staying independent and being competitive. The cooperative proves you can have both. — The spirit of the CCA Global founders
The founding philosophy hasn’t changed. This isn’t a franchise or a vendor relationship — members are true co-owners who shape the direction, share in the value, and keep their identity. Decisions run through the members themselves, and the cooperative is built for generational success rather than a short-term exit.
What Brodsky and Greenberg proved in flooring, Innovia proves again in community management: when independent companies unite as co-owners, they gain the scale to compete with the largest national players — on their own terms.
In 2009, the NCBA Cooperative Hall of Fame — the highest honor in the U.S. cooperative movement — inducted Howard Brodsky and Alan Greenberg (posthumously) for building one of the most successful member-owned cooperatives in the country. In 2019, Howard became the first American to receive the ICA Rochdale Pioneers Award.
The cooperative they started has carried its model into a new industry through Innovia — a growing national network of independent community management companies. The milestones that built it are below.
The founder milestones behind the cooperative model — from a single flooring co-op in New Hampshire to the national network that now powers Innovia Co-op.
Howard Brodsky and Alan Greenberg establish Carpet Co-op of America in Manchester, NH — empowering independent flooring retailers through shared buying power and democratic ownership.
Carpet One debuts with 13 founding members, reaching 26 stores and $25M in combined sales by year-end.
Carpet One becomes the largest floor-covering retail group in the United States, surpassing 50 member companies.
The organization rebrands as CCA Global Partners to reflect its expansion well beyond flooring.
Alan Greenberg passes away on August 28, 2007. His legacy: co-building the cooperative from 13 members into one of the largest networks of its kind in the world.
Howard Brodsky and Alan Greenberg (posthumously) are inducted into the NCBA Cooperative Hall of Fame — the highest honor in the U.S. cooperative movement.
CCA launches the Innovia Community Management Cooperative, applying the proven co-op model to community association management.
Howard Brodsky becomes the first American to receive the ICA Rochdale Pioneers Award, the cooperative movement’s foremost international honor.
After four decades, Howard Brodsky transitions from Co-CEO, continuing to guide the cooperative as Co-Chairman.
The founding philosophy hasn’t changed. The way Innovia brings it to life — with modern tools, technology, and community — evolves every day. Four principles carry the founders’ work into community management.
When independent companies unite as co-owners, they gain the scale and purchasing power to compete with the largest national players — on their own terms.
Enterprise-grade technology, best-practice playbooks, and continuous innovation — resources no single independent company could build alone.
This isn’t a franchise or a vendor relationship. Members are true co-owners who shape the direction, share in the value, and keep their identity.
Built for generational success, the cooperative model creates lasting value — not short-term exits. Your legacy grows alongside every other member’s.
We stand apart— The spirit of the CCA Global founders · Est. 1984
because we stand together.
The cooperative Howard Brodsky and Alan Greenberg started in 1984 is bigger than it has ever been — and Innovia carries the same commitments into community management. Here’s where today’s membership goes to find them.
The peer council the founders built — expanded into a national circle of invitation-only operator companies.
Read the pillar Pillar 02A national SEO and content engine routes qualified board leads to the closest member — a growth channel no independent firm runs alone.
Read the pillar Pillar 03The first deal grew into a vetted vendor program covering every line item a CAM company runs — banking, software, AI, insurance, staffing, security.
Read the pillar Pillar 04A shared home for educational resources — board guides, operating playbooks, and session recordings the membership builds on and returns to.
Visit the portalIf you run an independent or regional CAM company and the trade-off between scale and independence is the conversation you keep having, this is the conversation we were started for.