An Art & Science
Revised co-op development curriculum
gets test drive in Madison workshops
By Jane Livingston
Editor’s note: Livingston is a Maine-based
freelance communicator and marketing consultant
who specializes in cooperatives.
mejane@gwi.net.
t may not be happening as
rapidly as some would
like, but it’s happening.
The co-op model is
catching the attention of
people outside ‘the usual cast of characters.’
In fact, the 21 cooperative development
center-members of
CooperationWorks! have seen requests
for assistance triple in the past three
years.
“Cooperatives may be one of the
best kept secrets in America, but we’re
working to change that,” says Audrey
Malan, executive director of
CooperationWorks!, whose member-centers
serve people in 45 states.
Interest in the co-op business model
is coming — as it always has — from
entrepreneurial types who want to be in
business for themselves, but who lack
the capital or other resources to do it.
Others simply prefer to share the risks
and rewards of business ownership.
Increasingly, interest in co-ops is coming
from economic development loan
funds, financial institutions, government
officials, community nonprofit
organizations, religious congregations
and chambers of commerce.
“Too many development groups and
business educators still don’t know
enough about the cooperative business
model,” Malan says. “Yet the potential
for cooperative enterprise to play a role
in economic development is enormous
as communities struggle to find solutions
to shared challenges in agriculture,
energy, affordable housing, healthcare,
childcare, senior services and the
creation and retention of good jobs.”
Development practitioner
may hold key
Cooperative business development
holds great promise, but it’s a tall order
to fill. An effective development practitioner
is often the key to helping a
group of people implement sound business
practices and help them engage in
running their business in a truly cooperative
way.
“It can be a big challenge to start a
cooperative, especially for those new to
it,” says Malan, who worked as a cooperative
business development practitioner
in Washington state prior to taking
the reins at CooperationWorks!
“In its formative stages — typically a
two-year process — a co-op can be sabotaged
by its lack of information,
access, skills or experience. Co-op
development specialists can make the
difference, from providing technical
business assistance to helping people
learn how to recognize and act on business
opportunities.
“This can range from demonstrating
how to operate a business in a democratic
and professional way, to linking
co-op members with community partners
and surfacing co-op leadership. A
skilled co-op development practitioner
is a valuable community asset.”
Accelerating skill development
To accelerate and increase professional
competence of co-op development
practitioners, CooperationWorks!
has revised its training program. In two
intensive, five-day sessions held in
Madison, Wisc., during May and
November, 31 participants test-drove
the revised program. Afterward, participant
evaluations were highly positive.
Anne Reynolds, assistant director of
the University of Wisconsin Center for
Cooperatives, was a consultant for the
CooperationWorks! 2005 training program,
called ‘The Art and Science of
Cooperative Business Development.’
“We used the theme of ‘art and science’
to acknowledge that cooperative development
is both,” she says.
“You’re seen as an expert in some
sense. Like a scientist,” Reynolds continues,
“you have privileged information.
Only your role is not to be the
leader; it’s to identify and develop leadership.
But it’s even more. It is also to
help the whole cooperative group work
together. You have to be a good facilitator,
but you also must have the information
they expect you to have. That’s
what makes the role so complex.”
The training program grew from a
planning committee comprised of co-op
experts from around the country. It
offered participants a mix of classroom
work and more experiential learning.
Participants are engaged in detailed
case studies during which small groups
explore the nitty gritty of several successful
cooperative enterprises. A well-planned
menu of site visits allowed
trainees to question and observe how
the principles and values of cooperation
are practiced “on the ground.”
“It was a very thoughtful process,”
says Margaret Bau, cooperative development
specialist for USDA Rural
Development in Wisconsin, who was on
the planning committee and a trainer in
the program. “We asked current cooperative
development practitioners, co-op
attorneys and accountants to identify
‘the perfect training.’ We got all kinds
of great ideas, then winnowed them
down to what was manageable.”
Session One concentrated on the
‘science’ of co-op development. It
employed comparative business models;
critical development steps (including
feasibility analysis and business planning);
co-op finance, equity and legal
issues; co-op governance and management,
and keys to success. Session Two
took on the ‘art’ of helping groups of
people cooperate to build a successful
business. The curriculum included
group dynamics, team development,
visioning and strategic planning, systems
thinking and conflict management.
Understanding group dynamics
Understanding the group dynamics
of cooperatives is an evolving field,
notes Bau, who has helped a number of
homecare workers’ co-ops emerge in
recent years.
She speaks highly of the program’s
team development and
the focus on working effectively
with groups.
“The group dynamic can bring
synergy, or tear things apart,”
Bau observes. “We can learn
what to be aware of, what to
look for, how to respond. We
can take what we learn back to
all the co-ops we work with, and
become bridges for all this valuable
experience — from the successes
to the start-ups.
“Even though I’ve been doing
co-op development for 7 years,
the training was a growing experience,”
Bau adds. “We did
some internal conflict awareness
and resolution…that hit home
because it was paired with case
studies and site visits.”
Participant Eric Bowman, of
the Northwest Cooperative
Development Center, was impressed by
the caliber of trainers, the substance of
program content and the flexibility and
diversity of its delivery. “Practitioners
have some of the same challenges, and
we can use some of the same techniques
to mitigate them,” he says. “This program
increased my ability to understand
the needs of groups, to anticipate pitfalls and to cope better with the
inevitable. And it gave me the bigger
picture of how our center fits into the
national system. This is a very important
time for us to be paying attention
to one another.”
Sharing information, insight,
resources, challenges and strategies to
advance cooperative enterprise is the
reason CooperationWorks! was created.
Its member centers have developed
nearly 400 new rural businesses, owned
and controlled by more than 47,000
members and created 5,800 new jobs.
Investment in these co-op businesses
exceeds $900 million.
USDA provides support
For example, Minnesota alone —
one of the states where co-op impact
data has been measured — employs
nearly 80,000 people in cooperatives,
and generates about $11 billion in total
direct, indirect and induced impact.
And because they are locally owned,
these cooperatives’ patronage dividends
returned to owners generate another
$600 million in economic impact.
Many in the co-op world are seeing
this as a time of tremendous opportunity
for cooperatives to help strengthen
local and regional economies.
CooperationWorks! President Bill
Patrie agrees. “As people find ways to
work together for mutual benefit,” says
Patrie, “they are reaping huge economic
and social rewards. Cooperation is
one of the most powerful development
tools in America.”
Patrie, Malan and others often point
to electric co-ops as examples of how
the business model benefits rural people.
These co-ops were created by
farmers and ranchers, who wired rural
America in the early days of electricity
when rapidly growing investor-owned
utility companies didn’t see enough
profit in those sparsely populated areas.
In contrast to recent corporate scandals,
Malan says “electric cooperatives
—transparent businesses owned by their
members — stand as a beacons of light,
integrity and high economic and community
value. Clearly, cooperative businesses
are an effective development
strategy. To make them work, we need
effective cooperative business development
professionals.”
For more information on
CooperationWorks!, go to: www.cooperationworks.coop,
or contact them at
(307) 655-9162; e-mail: cw@vcn.com.
The Madison Principles
Professional standards for co-op development practitioners revised
Editor’s note: The principles were first written by members
of CooperationWorks! in Madison, Wis., in 1995, and
were recently revised to reflect the consensus of co-op
development practitioners.
- Cooperative developers subscribe to the highest level of
ethics and shall declare any conflict of interest, real or
perceived, so that they can be a credible source of
objective feedback and an articulate advocate of the
project as needed.
- There are essential development steps that must be taken
in a critical path to success.
- An enthusiastic group of local, trustworthy leaders is a
prerequisite for providing technical assistance. The
effective cooperative developer nurtures that leadership
by helping them shape a vision that will unite members
and provide ongoing training.
- Cooperatives only work when they are market driven; the
cooperative developer works to ensure that accurate
market projections precede other development steps.
- Member control through a democratic process is essential
for success. Success also depends on the commitment
of the members’ time, financial resources and loyalty
to the cooperative.
- There must be tangible benefits for members.
- The cooperative’s products and services must generate
sufficient revenue so the effort can be financially self-sustaining.
Provisions must be made to share any surplus
equitably.
- Each cooperative responds to its unique economic,
social and cultural context; as a consequence, each
cooperative is different.
- Cooperative developers link emerging cooperatives with
established cooperatives to facilitate mutual communication
and learning.
- Cooperatives are tools for development and promote
social empowerment and economic goals.
- Applied appropriately, cooperatives have value to all
population groups and for all businesses and services in
the public and private sectors.
- Opportunities for human cooperation exist throughout
the world. Cooperative development transcends national
boundaries.
