About Us

History of CDI

In 1992 Brian Henehan from the Northeast Cooperative Council and Andrew Ferguson began bringing together cooperative leaders from across New England and New York to:

• 1. Identify opportunities for joint activities and business development and

• 2. Build a vision for a thriving cooperative economy in the Northeast.

They conducted a needs assessment for cooperative education and training needs and catalogued cooperatives across the region.the spring of 1994, these cooperative leaders established the Cooperative Development Institute. They represented the wide range of cooperative enterprises found in the Northeast:

• 1. Roger Allbee, Springfield Farm Credit Banks
• 2. Joseph Bergeron, Vermont Credit Union League
• 3. Thomas Davenport, National Grape Growers Association
• 4. Cindy Foley, former chair of the National Cooperative Bank
• 5. Brian Henehan, Northeast Cooperative Council, Cornell Univ.
• 6. Robert Loeb, Telecommunications Cooperative Network
• 7. James Megson, The ICA Group
• 8. Nancy Wasserman, Vermont Community Loan Fund
• 9. Robert Wellington, Agri-Mark Cooperative

The Institute was founded with the explicit mission:

"To increase economic opportunities and benefits for people in the Northeast by fostering the growth and success of all types of cooperative enterprises."

The Northeast is an extremely large and diverse region. To make significant and sustainable economic improvements, new development infrastructure has been forged out of partnerships between cooperatives, businesses, public agencies, and other resources across the region. Building across sectors, from agriculture, through credit unions, to worker-owned cooperatives, and working through many disciplines, from new cooperative business start-ups and cooperative banking, to leadership development and education, the Institute and its diverse partners bring economic benefit to people and their communities. CDI received its non-profit 501(c)(3) status in the Summer of 1994.