The objective of this project is to implement a system of mutual exchange among
cooperative organizations for their benefit and the benefit of their members and localities.
Initial participation will be by members of Cooperative Life, which represents the
interests of cooperatives in the Northeast region and is the sponsoring organization for
the project. The first part of the project identified the barriers to increased cooperation
and the preferred strategies for increasing cooperation. The second part of the project
began implementation of the most preferred strategies--a directory of cooperatives and a
means of posting announcements. Subsequent parts of the project will further develop the
initial strategies as well as new strategies.
The goal of the directory is to increase the number and accuracy of listings of cooperative
organizations and other locally owned businesses in the Northeast region, to increase
awareness among cooperative organizations of the directory and the listings in it, and to
ensure the sustainability and continued usefulness of the directory over time. The goal of
the notices tool is to facilitate transactions among organizations listed in the directory,
with messages targeted by topic and geography. The success of these tools will be
evaluated by (1) the production of usable tools, (2) usage of the tools by cooperative
organizations, (3) increased awareness among the target population of the tools, and (4)
presence of necessary elements for continuous development of tools and strategies.
The Cooperation Among Cooperatives project was undertaken in order to increase the
amount of trade and business relationships among cooperatives in New England and New
York. The project took place under the auspices of Cooperative Life, the Northeast
Federation of Cooperatives, which is dedicated to building a thriving cooperative
economy.
There are over 22,000 cooperatives in the U.S., including 10,000 credit unions, 6,400
housing cooperatives, and 3,400 farmer-owned cooperatives. (NCBA 2003) Cooperatives
exist in every type of industry and serve nearly half of all Americans. Yet there exist few
established business relationships among cooperatives of different sectors. Organizations
such as the National Cooperative Business Association and Coop Life are working
toward making more connections among different types of cooperatives.
This project consisted of two major parts: a survey of Cooperative Life membership and
the development of one cooperation tool as a result of responses to the survey. The
survey established the overall level of interest in cooperation and the priority order of
different cooperation methods. (See Appendix 2, Full Report of Survey Responses.) The
most preferred strategy for cooperation identified by respondents was a directory of
cooperatives.