Community should benefit from co-ops

I am an adamant supporter of the co-op business model as a means of initiating and sustaining business and social projects in the rural area. A co-op encourages community participation. Most rural communities are faced with population bases that are too small for the conventional “if you build it they will come” model to work. The co-op model will work for almost any community endeavor whether it involves the creation of recreational facilities, halls, medical clinics, grocery stores, theatres, farm input supply depots, or shortline railroads.
The challenge is to assess whether or not community members will buy in. To help communities answer that question, The Alberta Community and Co-operative Association (ACCA) organized a conference in Red Deer, AB, from November 15-17, 2012. It was attended by Credit Unions, Rural Electrification Co-ops, Gas Co-ops, The Co-operators Insurance People, UFA, Federated Co-op, Canadian Worker Co-op, the Ideal Housing Co-op and members of community groups contemplating the formation of  co-ops.
Even though I am a member of several co-ops, I was there on behalf of the Battle River Railway, a recently formed New Generation Co-op. The ACCA had asked us to tell our story about why we chose the co-op model and how we raised $3.5 million to help us buy a railroad.
What impressed me most about the conference was hearing representatives of different co-ops reiterate two things:
• that co-ops are about people working together to pool their resources, and
• that this working together helps not only the individual citizens but the general community as well.  It was very refreshing to be in the midst of a large group of people who seemed to celebrate the fact that the community should benefit significantly from projects undertaken by co-operatives. They seemed to be saying that profit isn’t always money. Profit is being able to access goods and services right in ones own community.
It became obvious early though, that groups wanting to establish co-ops felt overwhelmed by a lack of guidelines and information. That message came through loudly and clearly many times. There was unanimous agreement that the established co-ops, through the creation of an association of co-operatives, should help fledgling co-ops become established.  They pledged to work hard to achieve that goal. In fact shortly after the completion of the conference an announcement was made by the Canadian Co-operative Association. They indicated that a fund called the National Co-op Development Fund had been established to assist new co-ops and groups wanting to form co-ops.
I mentioned earlier that the test of the sustainability of a co-op would be community buy in. When an aspiring co-op goes out to sell shares it will quickly become aware of the general community feeling. The share selling process will make or break your aspirations.
It is incredibly important that the founding group has done its homework. It is possible to create anything with the co-op model but the creation of something meaningful will require leadership and hard work.
Ken Eshpeter
Daysland, Ab