What's New

  
  National Co-op Month is about raising awareness of cooperatives.

     October is National Co-op Month. The idea for celebrating the special nature of co-ops started in 1924 in Waukegan, Illinois. Co-op Month became an October event in 1930, and it was made official in 1948 at the request of the Minnesota Association of Cooperatives. In 1964, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Orville Freeman, proclaimed a national Co-op Month. In 1971, the responsibility for Co-op Month was turned over to cooperative organizations.

• Co-ops are owned and governed by the people who use their services or buy their goods - their members.
• All co-ops adhere to seven guiding principles:

Voluntary and Open Membership — Cooperatives are voluntary organizations, open to all persons able to use their services and willing to accept the responsibilities of membership, without gender, social, racial, political or religious discrimination. 

Democratic Member Control — Cooperatives are democratic organizations controlled by their members, who actively participate in setting policies and making decisions. The elected representatives are accountable to the membership. In primary cooperatives, members have equal voting rights (one member, one vote) and cooperatives at other levels are organized in a democratic manner. 

Members’ Economic Participation — Members contribute equitably to, and democratically control, the capital of their cooperative. At least part of that capital is usually the common property of the cooperative. Members usually receive limited compensation, if any, on capital subscribed as a condition of membership. Members allocate surpluses for any or all of the following purposes: developing the cooperative, possibly by setting up reserves, part of which at least would be indivisible; benefiting members in proportion to their transactions with the cooperative; and supporting other activities approved by the membership. 

Autonomy and Independence — Cooperatives are autonomous, self-help organizations controlled by their members. If they enter into agreements with other organizations, including governments, or raise capital from external sources, they do so on terms that ensure democratic control by their members and maintain their cooperative autonomy. 

Education, Training, and Information — Cooperatives provide education and training for their members, elected representatives, managers and employees so they can contribute effectively to the development of their cooperatives. They inform the general public, particularly young people and opinion leaders, about the nature and benefits of cooperation. 

Cooperation Among Cooperatives — Cooperatives serve their members most effectively and strengthen the cooperative movement by working together through local, national, regional and international structures.
Concern for Community — While focusing on member needs, cooperatives work for the sustainable development of their communities through policies accepted by their members. 

•  Cooperatives are owned and controlled by the people who buy their goods and use their services - their members - and any surplus revenues are returned to those member-owners. No other business form has this characteristic.   
• Purchasing co-ops are increasingly becoming the solution for small, independent business owners who are seeking new tools to keep costs down and service up.
• Co-op members directly and democratically elect their board of directors from within the membership.
• Cooperatives are businesses that, by their very nature, are directly accountable to their member-owners. They are structured to ensure that the business serves only the best interests of its members.
• Members of cooperatives, not Wall Street investors, enjoy the benefits of co-op success.
• More than 48,000 cooperatives do business in both rural and urban America. They include credit unions, childcare co-ops, food co-ops, farmer-owned cooperatives, electricity and telecommunications cooperatives, housing co-ops and many others.
• Four in ten Americans, or 130 million people, are members of cooperatives. They generate revenue in excess of $230 billion a year, employ more than half a million Americans and have total payrolls of more than $15 billion annually.
• Co-ops outnumber publicly traded companies by more than three to one. There are an estimated 15,000 publicly traded companies in the U.S. 
•  While there is no official government accounting of cooperatives, based on information gathered by the co-op community, it is believed that there are some 48,000 cooperatives in the U.S., with that serve more than 130 million members.
• Cooperatives are among some of the largest, growing businesses in the United States. They include name brands like Ace Hardware, TruServ, Land O’Lakes, Welch’s, Sunkist, Best Western, Carpet One and many other well recognized brand names. More than 30 cooperatives have annual revenues in excess of $1 billion.
• More than 900 rural electric cooperatives own and maintain nearly half of the electric distribution lines in the United States, and cover 75 percent of the land mass and provide electricity to 37 million people.
• Co-ops are thriving businesses that operate in all sectors of the economy and they range in size from large Fortune 500 companies to small, local storefronts.
• Distribution co-ops are increasing their investment in plant at a rate of about $30 million per year, or about a five percent increase per year.
• A cooperative returns any margins, after bills are paid and money is set aside for operations and improvements, to the co-op members.
• Co-op members benefit from better service, high quality products, cost savings on products and services and from their direct control of the co-op business. 
• According to a recent survey by the National Cooperative Business Association, more than two-thirds of 
  Americans surveyed believe that the democratic business structure of cooperatives is more trustworthy and ethical than other types of business.
• Current corporate practices bear little resemblance to the democratic, member-governed structure that co-ops have embraced for nearly 150 years. 
• About 30 percent of farmers’ products in the U.S. are marketed through 3,100 farmer-owned cooperatives.
  *Source: National Cooperative Business Association.