Co-op Education
Tour helps co-op concepts
‘come alive’ for future
cooperative leaders
By Maria Miller, Director of Education
National Farmers Union
he next generation of co-op leaders is taking
time not only to learn the history of
cooperatives, but also what really makes
them work in today’s economic and social
environments.
Nearly 100 students from nine states came together
recently in Minneapolis, Minn., to learn about cooperatives
from co-op experts, employees and – perhaps most
importantly – co-op members of all ages. The students were
participants in the College Conference on Cooperatives,
sponsored by the CHS Foundation and hosted by the
National Farmers Union (NFU) Foundation.
“The conference provided me the
opportunity to gain a very broad
perspective of youth involvement in the
U.S. cooperative moment,” said
conference attendee and speaker
Mingwei Huang of Illinois. “I come
from a student housing co-op
background – a very small niche of the
co-op movement. I learned a lot about
agriculture, retail, food and rural
electric co-ops, credit unions and rural
community economic development.”
Huang agreed with others that to
foster a vibrant generation of co-op
leaders, it’s necessary for youth to
understand all kinds of co-ops and to
learn from leaders in the various
cooperative businesses.
The Feb. 20-22 event included
participants from Minnesota,
Wisconsin, South Dakota, Nebraska,
North Dakota, Kansas, Iowa, Illinois
and Colorado. Many of the participants
are attending a community college,
working on a bachelor’s degree or
pursing a master’s degree, for which an
understanding of the cooperative
business structure is important.
To make cooperative education come
alive for the participants, students
visited the
headquarters of CHS
Inc., one of the
nation’s leading
agricultural
cooperatives. “Don’t
limit your learning to
your current
education,” said
William Nelson,
president of the CHS
Foundation. He
challenged the visitors
to “get involved in
things that you cannot
complete in your own
lifetime” as a way to
truly make a
difference.
The students
also visited REI, a
consumer cooperative
that is one of the
nation’s leading
sporting equipment
retailers. Other stops
on the tour included
Mississippi Market
Natural Foods Co-op
and 7500 York
Cooperative. The
latter is a retirement
housing cooperative
where residents said
they appreciate being
able to play an active role in
determining their living environment.
“The conference expanded my
knowledge of cooperatives,” said Angie
Koch of South Dakota. “Meeting
speakers and others in attendance
allowed me to make many
connections.”
Presenters included members,
directors, employees and managers
from traditional and value-added
agricultural cooperatives. Attendees also
gained perspectives from electric,
housing and worker-owned co-ops, as
well as consumer cooperatives, such as
credit unions. Representatives from
USDA Rural Development and the
Peace Corps provided perspectives on
cooperative development in the United
States and abroad.
“Cooperatives are corporations
where people work together to solve
common problems, seize exciting
business opportunities and provide
themselves with goods and services,”
said Greg McKee, assistant professor
and director of the Quentin Burdick
Center for Cooperatives on the North
Dakota State University campus. “Coops
are here to stay.”
By touring cooperatives and being
able to quiz co-op leaders, members
and government experts, participants
walked away with a better
understanding of the current
challenges facing today’s co-ops
and the future opportunities for
co-op structured businesses.
Twin City co-op industry
leaders attended the conference
luncheon, giving the attendees a
chance to network. Amy Gales,
central region president of
CoBank, also addressed the
group.
Conference coordinator Cathy
Statz, education director for the
Wisconsin Farmers Union, said
the activities of Farmers Union
involve cooperation, education
and civic activism. “Our own
history is closely tied with the
cooperative movement,” said
Statz. “Cooperatives were made
possible by legislative activity,
and brought to life in
communities both rural and
urban. Events like these bring
these topics together.”
Additional supporters of the
conference included CoBank, The
Cooperative Foundation, SPIRE
Federal Credit Union, CHS Inc., MAC
Education Foundation, Federated
Youth Foundation and FUI
Foundation.
“Cooperatives are corporations
where people work together to solve
common problems, seize exciting
business opportunities and provide
themselves with goods and services.”
For more information about NFU
and its programs, visit: www.nfu.org.
