UW Center for Co-ops:
Working together…then and now
By Ashwini Rao, Associate
Outreach Specialist
UW Center for Cooperatives
he University of
Wisconsin Center for
Cooperatives (UWCC)
was established in 1962
to provide co-op training,
assistance and education programs
to international and domestic cooperatives,
and to conduct research directed
at all aspects of a cooperative business.
Decades later, the Center continues to
promote and research cooperative
action as a means of meeting the economic
and social needs of people.
So what has changed?
“While the Center’s core mission
has not changed, the focus of our work
has definitely shifted,” explains Bob
Cropp, professor emeritus and former
director of the Center. Adds Interim
Director Anne Reynolds, “We are
doing more work with a wider variety
of co-ops,” a reference to the broad
client base that the Center interacts
with, which has expanded over the past
few years to now include forestry, utilities,
health care, housing, food and
worker co-ops, among others. For others
at the Center, the shift has been in
gaining a “deeper understanding of the
issues” in our society and “achieving
greater impact through a broader range
of contacts” within our community.
The research arm of the Center
remains as robust as ever. Assistant
Professor and Senior Faculty Associate
Kim Zeuli joined the Center in 2001 to
strengthen research in the areas of agricultural
co-ops and co-ops in rural
communities. “There has always been a
lot of emphasis on research, and it continues
to remain a strong and critical
part of the organization,” says Zeuli.
The shift in focus, however, has
affected much of what the Center does
on a regular basis. The educational
workshops that UWCC organizes, in
partnership with the Wisconsin
Federation of Cooperatives and the
Minnesota Association of
Cooperatives, have seen a progression
toward topics on joint ventures, mergers/
acquisitions, alternative co-op
structures and resulting financial
implications.
“The focus on such topics reflects the
changing needs of our clients,” says
Cropp. “As University of Wisconsin-
Extension state specialists, we need to be
flexible and be able to respond to their
[clients’] needs.” Annual conferences
such as the Farmer Cooperatives
Conference, started a few years ago by
the Center, stimulate critical thinking on
how cooperatives need to address major
issues as well as engage researchers and
co-op leaders in a dialogue about best
practices and future trends impacting
agricultural cooperatives.
The response to changing trends is,
perhaps, more clearly reflected in the
Center’s initiatives to extend its services
beyond the university. A website
(www.wisc.edu/uwcc) offering extensive
information and resource links has
resulted in increased visibility for the
Center, expanding its reach beyond the
physical borders of the state of
Wisconsin. The availability of funds
and a heightened interest in rural development
start-ups and cooperatives have
also helped position the Center as a
resource for cooperative development
in the areas of agriculture, housing,
healthcare delivery and emerging markets,
such as organic foods.
The ever-increasing demand for
value-added agriculture, along with the
continuing strength of the co-op
movement and new opportunities in
cooperative development ensures that
the Center’s efforts to promote co-op
education and research will continue
for some time to come.
“The Center plans to continue to
partner with co-op leaders, educators
and researchers, and use these partnerships
to enhance the work that we do
for co-ops,” says Reynolds.
Contact information: website:
www.wisc.edu/uwcc; phone: (608)
262-3382; address: 230 Taylor Hall,
427 Lorch St., Madison, Wis. 53706.
Officers: Interim Director: Anne
Reynolds; Senior Faculty Associate/
Center for Co-ops: Kim Zeuli.
KSU, NDSU Centers researching co-op issues
In addition to the University of
Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives,
there are two other U.S. universitybased
cooperative research and education
centers.
Arthur Capper Cooperative
Center (ACCC) — Located at Kansas
State University, ACCC serves as a
premier center of excellence in cooperative
education. Its focus is on
research, business development,
finance, leadership, strategic management
and marketing for cooperatives.
Its primary objective is to increase
understanding of the cooperative form
of business. It conducts teaching,
research and educational extension
programs to help students and cooperatives
understand and improve decision
making in cooperatives, cooperative
performance, customer service to
patrons of cooperatives, cooperative
industry standards and the ability of
cooperatives to compete with other
businesses in the marketplace.
Contact information: www.agecon.
ksu.edu.accc/; phone: (785) 532-
1508; address: ACCC, Dept. of Ag
Economics, 305 Waters Hall, K.S.U.,
Manhattan, Kan. 66506. Director:
David G. Barton
Quentin Burdick Center for
Cooperatives (QBCC) — Located at
North Dakota State University,
QBCC functions in four primary
areas: (1) education, including academic
and executive; through academic
education, QBCC seeks “to create a
pool of university graduates who thoroughly
understand cooperative philosophy,
principles and management
strategies.” It is also involved in providing
in-service, executive-level training
for directors and management; (2)
research — academic research topics
tend to be general, with results published
and accessible to the public;
specific research is usually undertaken
for a single cooperative, with results
confidential to the client; (3) outreach/
communication — by spreading
the word about cooperative business
systems, QBCC fulfills the traditional
role of a land grant university; and (4)
coordination/cooperation — QBCC
seeks to coordinate its activities with
other organizations and agencies in
the region. In some areas it takes on a
leadership role, while in others it plays
a supportive role.
Contact information: website:
www.ag.ndsu.nodak.edu/qbcc; phone:
(701) 231-1016. address: QBCC, 301
Morill Hall, N.D. State University,
Fargo, N.D. 58105. Director: Dr.
William C. Nelson.
