Collaborate, communicate and cooperate. Celebrate National Co-op Month!

By Kerry Watson, Director of Communications

Great things happen when people collaborate. Sharing ideas,resources and capital, helps individuals accomplish more together than they can on their own. Cooperatives are member-owned and -controlled businesses based on collaboration - people working together.

When people join together to form a cooperative, the business is founded on their values and needs: democratic principles; community commitment and interaction; cooperative buying power and economic advantage; people helping people. Communication—aimed at keeping members informed, educated and involved—is a key component of thriving cooperative businesses.

While investor-owned businesses have a structure that pushes them to deliver profits to shareholders, cooperatives have a structure that pushes them to meet their customers’ needs. Cooperatives put people ahead of profits. Cooperative earnings are returned to members through improved services, lower prices or refunds.

In the United States, there are 29,000 cooperatives with more than100 million members. Cooperatives operate in every industry including agriculture, energy, financial services, food retailing and distribution, health care, child care, insurance, housing, purchasing and shared services, telecommunications and others.

Cooperatives work to the benefit of their members and their communities, so join forces! Join a cooperative. 

Collaborate. Communicate. Cooperate. October is Co-op Month!