The Co-op Model..... How did any of us find out about the cooperative business model? I learned by accident. Our organization was looking for a new kind of business structure to have a community owned classic amusement park museum. When our local amusement park (Whalom Park) closed the surrounding communities were upset that our park wasn't going to open and no one asked us what we as the citizens of those communities wanted. Then it was stripped and sold for development before our eyes. In one of our many meetings we had at my house one guest said that it sounded like a ski mountain her friends owned shares of. After that meeting I Google searched that information and found the Mad River Glen Cooperative MRG a skier owned mountain. For the next two years of researching MRG and co-ops in general we formed our organization as a consumer cooperative called the New Whalom Cooperative. As a business model it makes sense for us but it makes sense for many businesses but it's so hard to find all the information and tools needed to create a co-op. In today's world you can set up a business structure through a website in 5 minutes but you can't find a way to do that as a co-op. Why is that? Over the years since I've/we've found more resources and great people who help guid our co-op journey. One of those resources is the Everything Co-op radio show hosted by Vernon Oaks. For 11 years the show has dived into many types of co-ops and different programs that help educate and create cooperatives. Within this episode referenced here in this post the question arises. How can we market the co-op business model more? It's the business worlds best kept secret. How many of you have an account at a credit union? Did you know that a CU is a financial cooperative?! I didn't either. As cooperators we need to spread the word about the co-op business model. October is co-op month and if you have a platform you need to post, share or download as much information as we can so maybe in the future any cooperators can structure there co-op business on that same site that only takes 5! minutes....
This week Vernon will be interviewing Clifford (Cliff) Rosenthal as we continue to honor the 2024 Cooperative Hall of Fame inductees. Want to learn more about Cliff’s contributions to the #cooperative movement? Tune in on Thursday at 10:30am ET. https://bit.ly/4gAN8Mq