Cooperative Development Services

Last updated

Cooperative Development Services
Non-profit organization
Founded 1985
Headquarters Madison, Wisconsin
St. Paul, Minnesota
Key people
 Kevin Edberg, Executive Director
Gary Sloan, Chair
Website cdsus.coop

Cooperative Development Services (CDS) is a non-profit organization engaged in cooperative development in the United States. CDS works primarily with food cooperatives and senior housing cooperatives, providing consultation services and co-sponsoring conferences and programs for board members, managers and other professionals in the cooperative sector.

Cooperative autonomous association of persons

A cooperative is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and democratically-controlled enterprise". Cooperatives may include:

A food cooperative or food co-op is a food distribution outlet organized as a cooperative, rather than a private or public company. Food cooperatives are usually consumer cooperatives, where the decisions regarding the production and distribution of its food are chosen by its members. Like all cooperatives, food cooperatives are often based on the 7 Rochdale Principles, and they typically offer natural foods. Since decisions about how to run a cooperative are not made by outside shareholders, cooperatives often exhibit a higher degree of social responsibility than their corporate analogues.

Housing cooperative form of home ownership

A housing cooperative, co-op, or housing company, is a legal entity, usually a cooperative or a corporation, which owns real estate, consisting of one or more residential buildings; it is one type of housing tenure. Housing cooperatives are a distinctive form of home ownership that have many characteristics that differ from other residential arrangements such as single family home ownership, condominiums and renting.

Contents

CDS has staff in Madison, Wisconsin and St. Paul, Minnesota and is run by a 12 member Board of Directors.

Madison, Wisconsin Capital of Wisconsin

Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the seat of Dane County. As of July 1, 2017, Madison's estimated population of 255,214 made it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 82nd-largest in the United States. The city forms the core of the Madison Metropolitan Area which includes Dane County and neighboring Iowa, Green, and Columbia counties for a population of 654,230.

History

Cooperative Development Services was founded in 1985 by Rod Nilsestuen. [1]

Programs

Cooperative Board Leadership Development (CBLD) is a program providing support to the boards of food cooperatives. CBLD works with cooperatives to help define the role that Boards play in relation to staff. [2]

Board of directors board composed of directors

A board of directors is a group of people who jointly supervise the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit business, nonprofit organization, or a government agency. Such a board's powers, duties, and responsibilities are determined by government regulations and the organization's own constitution and bylaws. These authorities may specify the number of members of the board, how they are to be chosen, and how often they are to meet.

Policy Governance: A complete system of board leadership that is proactive, future-based and clearly differentiates between governance and management responsibilities. It empowers management while assuring accountability of performance.

Policy Governance, informally known as the Carver model, is a system for organizational governance. Policy Governance defines and guides appropriate relationships between an organization's owners, its board of directors, and its chief executive.

Forestry cooperatives

Cooperative Development Services assists in the development of sustainable forestry cooperatives and associations. Since 1998, CDS has been involved in the formation of 25 forestry cooperatives. CDS has received nearly $1 million in grant assistance from the USDA's rural cooperative development grants program. [3] CDS is a founding partner in WoodWorks, a network of organizations that provide services to forestry cooperatives.

United States Department of Agriculture U.S. federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal government policy on farming, agriculture, forestry, and food

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), also known as the Agriculture Department, is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, and food. It aims to meet the needs of farmers and ranchers, promote agricultural trade and production, work to assure food safety, protect natural resources, foster rural communities and end hunger in the United States and internationally.

Food Co-op 500

Food Co-op 500 is a program to increase the number of food cooperatives in the United States to 500 by 2015. [4] As of 2009, there were approximately 300 food cooperatives in operation. The program is supported by CDS along with the National Cooperative Grocers Association and the National Cooperative Bank. [5] CDS offers free outlines detailing the seven steps in forming a cooperative. [6]

Renewable energy

CDS assists organizations with founding businesses and funding projects in the renewable energy industry. CDS has helped organizations with projects involving biodiesel and wind energy.

Value-added agriculture

CDS works with agricultural and livestock businesses to create revenue through value-added products. The organization assists businesses in obtaining grants such as the Value-Added Producer Grants available through the USDA.

Related Research Articles

The United States Rural Utilities Service (RUS) administers programs that provide infrastructure or infrastructure improvements to rural communities. These include water and waste treatment, electric power, and telecommunications services. it is an operating unit of the USDA Rural Development agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). It was created in 1935 as the Rural Electrification Administration (REA), a New Deal agency promoting rural electrification.

Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), formerly known as the Soil Conservation Service (SCS), is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) that provides technical assistance to farmers and other private landowners and managers.

The North American Students of Cooperation (NASCO) is a federation of housing cooperatives in Canada and the United States, started in 1968. Traditionally, NASCO has been associated with student housing cooperatives, though non-student cooperatives are included in its network. NASCO provides its member cooperatives with operational assistance, encourages the development of new cooperatives, and serves as an advocate for cooperatives to government, universities, and communities. NASCO teaches leadership skills, provides information, and serves as a central link in facilitating the fruition of the cooperative vision for students and youth.

The Rural Business-Cooperative Service is one of three agencies within USDA Rural Development responsible for administering various economic development programs to rural communities in the United States and its territories. Because these three agencies are closely aligned, they are commonly referred to as the USDA Rural Development, Business & Cooperative Programs.

The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH or GIZ in short is a German development agency headquartered in Bonn and Eschborn that provides services in the field of international development cooperation. GIZ mainly implements technical cooperation projects of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), its main commissioning party, although it also works with the private sector and other national and supranational government organizations on a public benefit basis. In its activities GIZ seeks to follow the paradigm of sustainable development, which aims at balancing economic development with social inclusion and environmental protection. GIZ offers consulting and capacity building services in a wide range of areas, including management consulting, rural development, sustainable infrastructure, security and peace-building, social development, governance and democracy, environment and climate change, and economic development and employment.

United States African Development Foundation independent agency of the United States

The United States African Development Foundation (USADF) is an independent United States government agency that provides grants of up to $250,000 for operational assistance, enterprise expansion and market linkage to early stage agriculture, energy, and youth-led enterprises that benefit underserved communities in Sub-Saharan Africa.

People's Food Co-op or just the People's Co-op is a food cooperative located in Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1970 by the members of a food-buying club, the co-op is owned by over 3000 member owners and is a member of the National Cooperative Grocers Association and the United States Federation of Worker Cooperatives.

Richland Electric Cooperative is an electric distribution cooperative located in Richland Center, Wisconsin. Richland Electric Cooperative serves approximately 3500 members with electric service throughout Richland County, Wisconsin and parts of Sauk, Vernon, and Crawford counties as well.

The National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) is an independent, not-for-profit, section 501(c)(3) founded in 1977 and headquartered just outside of Washington, DC, in Arlington, VA. NACD’s membership includes the entire boards of 1,250 corporations as well as several thousand individual members, for a total of more than 20,000 members. Membership is open to individuals serving on boards of public, private, and nonprofit organizations from both the United States and overseas. The organization is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors.

Wiregrass Electric Cooperative is a not-for-profit rural electric utility cooperative headquartered in Hartford, Alabama. It is a member of the Alabama Rural Electric Association of Cooperatives (AREA) and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.

Agriculture in the Classroom

Agriculture in the Classroom (AITC) is a grassroots program coordinated by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the National Agriculture in the Classroom Organization. Its goal is to help students gain a greater awareness of the role of agriculture in the economy and society, so that they may become citizens who support wise agricultural policies. AITC raises agricultural literacy by helping students' understand the farm sources of their food, fabric and flowers.

Mark E. Keenum President of Mississippi State University, former USDA under secretary

Mark Everett Keenum is an agricultural economist in the United States. He is currently the president of Mississippi State University.

CooperationWorks! is a network of organizations promoting rural development through the formation of cooperatives in the United States. CooperationWorks! is organized as a cooperative of 21 member development centers. The co-op facilitates the coordination of cooperative development efforts and provides business expertise to its member organizations.

Cooperative Development Foundation

The Cooperative Development Foundation (CDF) is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization engaged in cooperative development in the United States. CDF administers revolving loan funds, provides grants, and fosters economic development through the formation of cooperatives. CDF is partnered with the National Cooperative Business Association.

The American Hospital Association's Center for Healthcare Governance is a membership based organization that is affiliated with the AHA. Founded in 2004 and based in Chicago, Illinois, Center members include more than 500 hospital and health system boards and other organizations that serve the health care sector. The Center also provides governance resources and services to the more than 5,000 member organizations of the American Hospital Association. The Mission of the Center is to bring about excellence and accountability in governance by being the valued source, for health care leaders and trustees, of innovative governance thinking, information, tools and content. The Center is governed by a board of managers and also receives guidance on program and service development from a national board of advisors.

Alaska Cooperative Extension Service

University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service is an outreach-based educational delivery system supported by a partnership between the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF). The UAF Cooperative Extension Service annually serves approximately 80,000 Alaskans, “providing a link between Alaska's diverse people and communities by interpreting and extending relevant university, research-based knowledge in an understandable and usable form to the public.” Since 1930 the UAF Extension Service has partnered with many organizations across the state of Alaska in pursuit of fulfilling its land-grant university mission to disseminate agricultural research and other scientific information.

The Community Futures Network of Canada is an extensive network of 269 community futures development corporations. The national Community Futures Program is administered by four regional development agencies, the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA), Canadian Economic Development for Québec Regions (CED-Q), Western Economic Diversification Canada (WD), and the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario (FedNor) under Industry Canada (IC). In Western Canada the Community Futures Program is delivered through a network of 90 non-profit organizations that are supported by four associations and one Pan-West Community Futures Network.

Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service

The Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) is an extension agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), part of the executive branch of the federal government. The 1994 Department Reorganization Act, passed by Congress, created CSREES by combining the former Cooperative State Research Service and the Extension Service into a single agency.

References

  1. ↑ Chaptman, Dennis. Doyle enlists farm co-op leader. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 3 January 2003.
  2. ↑ Stone, Mary. Natural foods co-op finds solid ground. Rochester Business Journal. 27 November 2009.
  3. ↑ NCBA honors Sen. Kohl. Rural Cooperatives. 1 July 2001.
  4. ↑ Gutierrez, Bertrand M. Group Calls Meeting to Explore Setting Up Food Co-op; Residents Say They Need Convenience of a Nearby Grocery Store as Downtown Develops. Winston-Salem Journal. 21 January 2006.
  5. ↑ Petersen, Laura. Trying to be cooperative: Community-owned market envisioned on H Street corridor. The Common Denominator. 19 September 2005.
  6. ↑ Dresang, Joel. Co-ops give power to the customers. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 16 August 1996.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.