Coop Month
October is National Co-op Month
- Minnesota was the first state to declare an official Co-op Month proclamation in 1948
- Co-op Month has been a nationally recognized celebration since 1964, when U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Orville Freeman, a former Minnesota governor, proclaimed October Co-op Month
- Co-ops don't have to answer to outside shareholders; they care about meeting their members' needs
- Co-ops represent democracy in action, with control exercised by a board of directors elected from the ranks of member; the board hires and directs management and is ultimately responsible to the members
- Cooperatives generate jobs in their communities, keep profits local and pay local taxes to help support community services. Cooperatives often take part in community improvement programs, ensuring that everyone has an opportunity to benefit from the cooperative experience
- Rural America is served by a network of about 1,000 electric cooperatives, most of which were formed in the 1930's and 40's to bring electricity to farms and rural communities that large, investor-owned power companies had no interest in serving because of the higher costs involved in serving low-population-density areas
