Do you know of any free legal resources reguarding labor laws as they pertain to cooperatives and collectives, specifically the issues involved in profit sharing in lieu of wages. Nationally and the state of missouri.
Cooperatives appear to be governed by state law.
In Missouri, the main statute dealing with Cooperatives is Chapter 357. You can find the text of that statute here: http://www.moga.state.mo.us/STATUTES/C357.HTM. When I read that statute (and bear in mind, I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice), it appears that cooperatives are required to engage in profit sharing and cannot pay salaries.
Another good page with information on cooperatives in Missouri is:
http://muextension.missouri.edu/xplor/extcirc/ec0954.htm
(This is from the University of Missouri).
Here are a few more resources that may be helpful as you move forward establishing your business.
The Kansas City Public Library has a "Starting a Small Business" Guide on their website which highlights what resources they have available in their collection.
http://www.kclibrary.org/guides/smallbusiness/
The Small Business Administration can be of more direct assistance while you are establishing your business. In addition to loans, SBA and their partners offer training and one-on-one counseling to small business owners (usually for free, sometime for a small fee to cover supplies).
There are several of these organizations located in Kansas City. Although none of the SBA affiliates deal specifically with coops, they should be more familiar with local law and generally able to help a wide-range of small businesses.
Small Business Administration – Kansas City, MO Office
http://www.sba.gov/mo/kansas/index.html
Missouri Small Business Development Centers
http://www.bloch.umkc.edu/sbdc/index.shtml
Kansas City SCORE – Service Corps of Retired Executives
http://www.scorekc.org/
If this will be a woman-owned/headed business, you could also go to the:
Missouri Women’s Business Center
http://www.missouriwbc.com/
In addition to these local resources, there are some national organizations that deal specifically with cooperatives, that may be a good source of information for you:
National Cooperative Business Association
http://www.ncba.coop/serv_cbd.cfm
Cooperative Development Foundation
http://www.cdf.coop/
CDF publishes the Journal of Cooperative Development, which had an issue specifically geared toward urban cooperatives, which is available online:
http://www.cdf.coop/pdf/journal/CDJspring01.pdf
National Cooperative Bank
http://www.ncb.coop
Also, the USDA-Rural Development office has a number of publications that may be helpful, even to non-rural cooperatives. You can see their list of publications here:
USDA Rural Development
http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/rbs/pub/pubcat.htm