News Stories

October is National Cooperative Month.  One of California's principal resources on cooperatives is the University of California's Center for Cooperatives, based at UC Davis.

The Center for Cooperatives conducts research, provides education and outreach, and assists groups forming new cooperatives.  The center just received a $328,000 grant from USDA's Rural Cooperative Development Grant Program.

The money will be used to support groups of California citizens who are working together for mutual benefit.  A cooperative is an organization that is owned and controlled by the people who use its goods, services or facilities.  It is governed and financed by its user-members.  A board of directors, elected by the membership, sets the cooperative's policies and procedures.  By pooling resources, members can increase their power to buy, sell, market or bargain as one group, achieving economies of scale and sharing the profits.

"Cooperation" has been practiced throughout human history, but the cooperative as a form of business organization began during the Industrial Revolution.

"Cooperatives were used to promote the interests of less powerful members of society," said Shermain Hardesty, director of the UC Center for Cooperatives.  "Farmers, producers, workers and consumers found that they could accomplish more collectively than they could individually."

As examples, the UC Center for Cooperatives is working with residents at low-income housing facilities in Tulelake, Goshen, Coachella and Soledad to create childcare cooperatives.  The center also recently funded the development of a business plan for Placer and Nevada county grass-fed beef producers who are close to launching the "Sierra Nevada Beef Cooperative."  The Center for Cooperatives is promoting the development of energy cooperatives for consumers and agricultural producers.  Last month, the center released a video, Made in the USA, illustrating how worker-owned cooperatives can optimize salary potential and work opportunities.

Cooperatives can be used to address a multitude of shared needs:

• Agricultural cooperatives help producers assure markets and supplies, achieve economies of scale and gain market power.
• Arts and crafts cooperatives help artists and craftspersons maximize their earning potential and working conditions.
• Credit unions provide at-cost financial services to a wide cross-section of the population.
• Food cooperatives gain access to healthy, affordable commodities using a consumer-directed approach.
• Housing cooperatives offer ownership options for Californians from all income groups.

According to the National Cooperative Business Association, there are 48,000 cooperatives in the United States with over 120 million members.  In California, more than 10 million people belong to cooperatives.  The top 100 co-ops in 2003 reported revenues of $119 billion, according to the National Cooperative Bank.  California cooperatives in the top 100 include Unified Western Grocers, California Dairies, Sunkist Growers, WesCorp, Calcot and Blue Diamond Growers.

A recent survey by Opinion Research Corporation found that cooperatives differ from investor-owned firms in how they are perceived by the public.  Survey results indicated that the public has greater trust in businesses that are owned and democratically governed by the people who use their services.  According to the survey, Americans rate co-ops higher than investor-owned corporations on questions of trustworthiness, quality, service, price and commitment to community.

Additional information on cooperatives is available at http://www.co-opmonth.org or by contacting the University of California Center for Cooperatives at (530) 752-2408 or visiting its Web site at http://cooperatives.ucdavis.edu.