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Contribute to a more Cooperative Economy--
Give to the United Co-op Appeal!
Cooperative Development Institute The Keep Local Farms program connects consumers with New England dairy farmers through promotion of all dairy products, education on farm activities and the potential for consumers to directly support dairy farmer-members of the New England Family Dairy Farm Cooperative. If you are interested in local food production, productive open land and your local community – click to learn more about the Keep Local Farms program.
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CDI Rings in the Fiscal New Year as the Rural Cooperative Development Center for the NortheastThe New Year comes early when you're on the Federal calendar. Back in September, the US Department of Agriculture Rural Business-Cooperative Service announced Cooperative Development Institute (CDI) as one of 28 awardees for its fiscal year 2010 Rural Cooperative Development Grants. Find out more about how CDI uses the RCDG to help cooperative businesses -- including yours! -- take off. Featured story:
The Evergreen Cooperative Development Project aims to create locally-anchored green jobs that create wealth.Evergreen CooperativesThe Ohio Employee Ownership Center, in collaboration with the city of Cleveland, The Cleveland Foundation, and Shore Bank of Cleveland, has been involved for the past few years with an exciting cooperative economic development initiative. Their mission is to create jobs that generate wealth for low-income residents while also stabilizing neighborhoods. The project emerged as they began to explore how they could anchor and create businesses that employ residents and build wealth in the surrounding area. Employee ownership is an excellent tool to use. It has a proven track record of generating jobs, anchoring capital within neighborhoods, promoting asset accumulation and building viable economic enterprises. A critical tactic is the creation of new employee owned businesses, largely structured on the co-op model, whose products and services would match the procurement needs of large nearby institutions. In addition, the Evergreen Cooperative Development Fund will provide long term funding resources. View the six-minute video of the Evergreen Cooperative Story. Our condolences to John Logue's family and his colleagues at the Ohio Employee Ownership Center. His sudden passing is a great loss to us all. Past news stories:Who’s New? Fresh Faces, Fond Farewells, and Familiar Folk at CDIWho is CDI? The people behind the name have shifted during the past year. Find out more about our new Executive Director, Housing Program Manager, and Board members. Gallery to feature work of co-op artists and artisansCDI is launching the Artist & Artisan Cooperative Gallery to showcase the work of artist co-op members. Artists may sign up to post their work for free; CDI will retain 20% of all sale proceeds. An auction will be held in November to give shoppers a cooperative holiday shopping opportunity. This year, plan to do your holiday shopping the co-op way! CDI turns 15, revs engineFifteen years ago, a group of cooperative leaders from New England and New York introduced the region to the Cooperative Development Institute (CDI). Its mission: to grow the Northeast’s cooperative economy. Read on to find out more about CDI's new programs... Massachusetts-based Co-op Developer Joins National NetworkAs the newest member of the ROC USA Certified Technical Assistance Provider Network, Cooperative Development Institute will help owners of manufactured homes buy and operate their communities in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. Read the full news release.
Lilac Drive Co-op in Raymond, NH, the site of the ROC USA launch event in May of 2008. Photo credit: Geoff Forester.
CDI envisions a global co-operative economy in which people work together to achieve their common goals, have access to quality jobs and affordable products and services, and share ownership of essential resources. While regional in focus, we seek to contribute to innovative co-operative strategies on a national and global level. CDI's core values are: 1. The Process: Cooperation, Community, and a Willingness to Listen. In an age such as ours when the familiar supports of neighborhoods, families, and other institutions seem to be crumbling, people yearn for warmth and a sense of belonging, a sense of place. Many have found support in joining cooperatives, where isolation gives way to community, competition gives way to cooperation, and each one's voice is heard and valued.
Cooperatives use basic democratic principles to elect officers and to form decisions. Members invest in the co-op by paying a membership fee or similar cash security, and they receive benefits in proportion to the use they make of the co-op's goods or services. Profits are returned to members in the form of Patronage Dividends, or members may decide to reinvest the dividends back into the co-op for capital purchases or other needs. 3. The Outcome: Sustainable Community Development. Cooperatives strengthen the bonds of community life. Cooperatives help to stabilize the local economy by ensuring that profits return to those who produced them. Co-op members value their communities, support local governance, and are likely to buy from other co-ops and small family enterprises. In rural areas, cooperatives work to preserve family farms by helping small producers join with others to purchase supplies in bulk and to participate in region-wide marketing campaigns. This strength in numbers gives communities a voice when outside interests threaten to overwhelm them. By retaining a local focus, cooperatives provide a vehicle to invigorate community life. CDI fully supports the statement of values and principles adopted by the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA). CDI's work is also guided by the Madison Principles, professional standards set by cooperative development leaders in Madison, Wisconsin in 1994. Find out more about CDI's services and products and our educational and training programs.
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