December 26, 2020

About cooperatives

Community Wealth

Cooperatives are businesses governed on the principle of one member, one vote. There are several common types of co-ops (as well as hybrids—which combine more than one type), including cooperatives owned and operated by:

  • The people working there (worker cooperatives);
  • The people buying the co-op’s goods or services (consumer cooperatives);
  • The people collaborating to process and market their products (producer cooperatives); and
  • Groups uniting to enhance their purchasing power (purchasing cooperatives).Groups uniting to enhance their purchasing power (purchasing cooperatives).

Demonstrating this strategy’s vast scope and scale, there are 64,017 cooperatives across the U.S. operating within a range of diverse industries including banking (credit unions), agriculture, utilities, and child care.

The first known modern consumer cooperative was a retail store founded by 28 people in Rochdale, England in 1844. Originally selling butter, sugar, flour, oatmeal, and tallow candles, the business expanded rapidly as the co-op succeeded in elevating food standards — rejecting then-common tactics such as watering down milk.

Cooperatives play a critical role in building community wealth for several key reasons:

  • They often provide quality goods and services to areas that have been shunned by traditional businesses because they are deemed less profitable markets.
  • They typically invest in local communities. For example, many rural cooperative utilities finance community infrastructure projects, make equity investments in local businesses, make grants to neighborhood nonprofits, and sponsor a range of community-focused events.
  • Since most cooperative members are local residents, business profits remain and circulate within the community.
  • Cooperative membership builds social networks and strengthens social cohesion, which are essential elements of strong, healthy communities, by connecting diverse community residents.
  • Purchasing cooperatives, in particular, help small, local businesses remain competitive within markets dominated by large, national retailers.
  • Worker cooperatives, in particular, create quality, empowering jobs for community members

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