rural cooperatives - rural development · by rich myers departments 02 commentary 19 utility co-op...

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lCOOPERATIVESCOOPERATIVESJanuary/February 2016

Co-opSprouts fromGrass Roots

By Sam Rikkers, AdministratorRural Business Cooperative ServiceUSDA Rural Development

Regular readers of this magazine are likelywell aware of USDA’s commitment tocooperative education and its role inpromoting the use of cooperative businessesas a way to strengthen the rural economy.

USDA Rural Development also manages a number offinancial programs that can help producer cooperatives, oneof which is the Value-Added Producer Grants (VAPG)program.

Since the VAPG program was launched in 2001, it hasprovided cooperatives and other producer-owned businessesacross the nation and U.S. territories with more than $308million to turn their raw commodities into finished consumerproducts and commercial goods. VAPGs can fund a widerange of planning and working capital activities, from aninitial study to determine if there is a market for the product,to eligible processing and marketing expenses. VAPG aims tocreate new marketing opportunities and bring profits back tothe farm or ranch where the product was grown, and then tolocal communities.

The VAPG program helps agricultural producers enterinto value-added activities related to the processing and/ormarketing of bio-based, value-added products. Generatingnew products, creating and expanding marketingopportunities and increasing producer income are the goalsof this program. Priority for these grants is given to farmerand rancher cooperatives, beginning or socially disadvantagedfarmers and ranchers and small- and medium-sized farms andranches that are structured as family farms, or othersproposing to develop a mid-tier value product.

The cover story for this magazine provides an excellentexample of the type of businesses the VAPG was designed tohelp. It’s a profile of a newly launched, producer-owned co-op in Arkansas that is helping beginning, sustainable-meatproducers (beef, poultry and pork) to jointly process andmarket their products. The challenges facing any new smallbusiness are many, but the demand for local, sustainablyproduced food is growing rapidly, and the co-op reports thatit is selling everything its members can produce.

Noteworthy in this article is an additional motivationbehind the creation of the co-op: the members’ desire to helpcreate jobs and generate economic stimulus in rural areas ofthe state where the economic recovery has been slow toreach. Commitment to bettering the communities of theirmembers is a core belief behind the cooperative movement,which is well evidenced by this co-op. Equally laudatory isthe co-op’s commitment to helping hired farmworkers makethe transition to farm owners and co-op members.

That article is followed by another that provides a look ata recent VAPG award which helped launch a much-neededprocessing alternative for small- and medium-sized chickenproducers in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley area.

VAPGs are awarded through a national competition, and— in most years — USDA receives many more applicationsthan we have funds for. Since inception, the program hasaveraged from $15 million to $30 million in appropriatedfunds to be awarded annually. But there’s good news on thisfront. The 2014 Farm Bill made mandatory funding availablewhich, when combined with this year’s annual appropriation,will result in $52 million being available for VAPGs. So,there’s never been a better time to see if the program wouldbe a good fit for a value-added project your co-op isconsidering, or to help launch a new co-op.

The maximum grant amount available is $75,000 forplanning purposes (such as the development of a businessfeasibility study or for a marketing plan), or up to $250,000for a working-capital grant. This is a “matching grant”program, so recipients must provide 50 percent of the moneyneeded for the project.

The 2016 program is expected to be announced in theFebruary-March timeframe. For applications and moreinformation about the program, visit: http://www.rd.usda.gov.Just enter “VAPG” in the search engine window of the homepage. And while you’re there, you can read about some of theother USDA Rural Development programs that can help co-ops and producers. You can also call or visit your nearestUSDA Rural Development office to discuss VAPG or any ofour other programs.

Cooperative businesses offer so many ways to helpproducers and other rural people improve their quality of life,and the VAPG program is just one of many ways USDAendeavors to strengthen the co-op sector. Check it out! n

2 January/February 2016 / Rural Cooperatives

Commentary VAPG program can be a good fit for co-ops

Features

Rural Cooperatives / January/February 2016 3

Volume 83, Number 1January/February 2016

Rural Cooperatives (1088-8845) is published bimonthlyby USDA Rural Development, 1400 Independence Ave.SW, Stop 0705, Washington, DC. 20250-0705.

The Secretary of Agriculture has determined thatpublication of this periodical is necessary in thetransaction of public business required by law of theDepartment. Periodicals postage paid at Washington,DC. and additional mailing offices. Copies may beobtained from the Superintendent of Documents,Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, 20402, at$23 per year. Postmaster: send address change to:Rural Cooperatives, USDA/RBS, Stop 3255, Wash., DC20250-3255.

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Unless otherwise stated, articles in this publication arenot copyrighted and may be reprinted freely. Anyopinions express-ed are those of the writers, and do notnecessarily reflect those of USDA or its employees.

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Tom Vilsack, Secretary of Agriculture

Lisa Mensah, Under Secretary,USDA Rural Development

Dan Campbell, Editor

Stephen Hall / KOTA, Design

Have a cooperative-related question? Call (202) 720-6483, or email: [email protected] This publication was printed with vegetable oil-based ink.

04 Minnesota, Iowa, California top states for ag co-opbusiness volumeBy James Wadsworth, Carolyn Liebrand, Charita Coleman

08 Sprouting New Roots Grass Roots Farmers’ Co-op helps beginning livestock and poultry farmers in ArkansasBy Dan Campbell

13 New poultry processing plant bolsters Virginia’s small-scale producersBy James Matson, Dylan Timmerman and Caitlin Butler

14 From Bars to FreedomPrisoner co-ops boost employment, self-esteem and support re-entry into societyBy Meegan Moriarty

20 Safety in NumbersFood safety certification hurdles can be lowered through use of USDA’s GroupGAPprogram By Charles W. Parrott

24 Expertise to ShareATTRA resources offer valuable assistance to sustainable producers, cooperativesBy Rich Myers

Departments02 COMMENTARY

19 UTILITY CO-OP CONNECTION

22 CO-OP & COMMUNITY

26 LEGAL CORNER

30 NEWSLINE

p. 4

ON THE COVER: Andrea Todt, with toddler in “papoose-style” backpack, unwinds electric-line fencing used tocirculate cattle from one paddock to another on her farmin the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas. Todt is a foundingmember of Grass Roots Farmers Cooperative (GRFC),which produces sustainable beef, pork and poultry. Photoby Miranda Yelvington, courtesy GRFC

p. 14 p. 22


By James Wadsworth, Carolyn Liebrand,Charita ColemanUSDA Cooperative Programs

Editor’s note: This is the third of threearticles that present highlights of USDA's2014 survey of rural farmer, rancher andfishery cooperatives. The first two articles(focusing on overall co-op statistics and theTop 100 ag co-ops) can be read in theNovember/December 2015 issue of RuralCooperatives, online athttp://www.rd.usda.gov/files/RDRuralCoopMag_NovDec15.pdf.

Minnesota was thenation’s top state forbusiness volumeconducted byagricultural

cooperatives during 2014. Based onUSDA’s annual survey of cooperatives,203 Minnesota agricultural cooperativesreported $29.2 billion in gross businessvolume, derived from marketing farmcommodities, selling farm supplies andproviding services for producers inMinnesota (Table 1). Ranking secondwas Iowa, where 111 co-ops did $25.1

billion worth of business. Of the $240.3billion in gross business volume for agco-ops nationwide, Minnesota and Iowaaccounted for 22.6 percent of it.

California ranked third among thestates for co-op business volume, withits 122 ag co-ops recording $14 billionin gross business. Wisconsin was closebehind with $13.8 billion generated by95 co-ops. These two states togetherrepresented about 12 percent of thenational co-op business total, or about 6percent each.

Co-op marketing of commodities

Co-ops marketed $58.8 billion ingrains and oilseeds in 2014, making itthe largest commodity sector for ag co-ops. Dairy was second, at $52.4 billion.Fruit and vegetables ranked third, at$8.4 billion, followed by: sugar ($7.8billion), livestock ($4.9 billion), cotton($2.3 billion), nuts ($1.6 billion),poultry ($1.3 billion), rice ($935million), cotton ginning ($476 million),beans and peas ($238 million), fish($215 million) and tobacco ($339million). “Other” products (which

includes forest products, hay, hops, seedfor growers, nursery products, biofuels,coffee, wool, mohair, etc.) accounted for$8 billion in business volume.

Cooperatives sourced some productsfrom other nations in four commoditysectors: fruit/vegetables, grains/oilseeds,livestock and “other.” These foreign-sourced products were valued at $527million, with fruit/vegetablesaccounting for 63 percent of the total.

Grains/oilseeds accounted for thelargest portion of commoditiesmarketed by cooperatives, 39.8 percentof total gross marketing, followed bydairy with 35.5 percent (Figure 1). Nextcame fruit/vegetable (5.7 percent), sugar(5.3 percent), cotton (1.5 percent) andnuts (1.1 percent). The “other”category, including multiplecommodities, accounted for 6.5 percentof co-op marketing.

Compared to 2013, nine commoditycategories saw marketing gains in 2014.These included: dairy, livestock, fruitand vegetables, sugar, poultry, nuts, fish,tobacco, and cotton ginning. Fourcategories showed drops in co-opcommodity marketing: grains/oilseeds,

Minnesota, Iowa, Californiatop states for ag co-op business volume

USDA photo by Lance Cheung


Gross Volume Gross Farm Total Service Gross Business Net # Co-opsof Products Supplies Gross Receipts Business Between Business Doing

Marketed Sales Sales & Other Volume Co-ops Volume BusinessState Income in State

Millions $ Number

Alabama 466.6 384.9 851.5 26.5 878.0 90.3 787.7 53Arkansas 1,988.0 857.4 2,845.4 57.9 2,903.3 324.8 2,578.5 44Arizona 1,181.4 143.2 1,324.6 13.5 1338.1 134.3 1,203.8 19California 12,975.0 1,001.8 13,976.8 406.8 14383.6 1,263.8 13,119.8 122Colorado 714.0 1,393.0 2,107.0 53.3 2160.3 551.9 1,608.4 37Florida 1,592.6 361.5 1,954.1 103.7 2057.8 817.6 1,240.2 39Georgia 502.9 1,365.5 1,868.4 4.7 1873.1 644.3 1,228.8 28Iowa 13,658.0 11,435.5 25,093.5 716.5 25810.0 3,069.5 22,740.5 111Idaho 1,630.8 1,706.5 3,337.2 87.7 3424.9 1,516.9 1,908.0 35Illinois 8,919.6 8,601.1 17,520.6 450.9 17971.5 2,329.6 15,641.9 123Indiana 1,829.4 4,526.5 6,355.9 180.9 6536.8 1,789.6 4,747.2 44Kansas 6,165.5 3,916.2 10,081.7 305.4 10387.1 1,536.0 8,851.1 108Kentucky 812.1 952.6 1,764.6 11.1 1775.7 237.4 1,538.3 24Louisiana 1,803.1 446.2 2,249.3 (8.9) 2240.4 185.7 2,054.7 44Michigan 3,883.0 1,564.0 5,447.0 64.6 5511.6 876.6 4,635.0 60Minnesota 22,239.7 6,990.1 29,229.8 1,267.8 30497.6 3,545.7 26,951.9 203Missouri 7,597.6 4,440.3 12,037.9 284.8 12322.7 1,691.5 10,631.2 78Mississippi 1,030.3 509.6 1,539.9 37.7 1577.6 209.9 1,367.7 54Montana 1,191.5 2,279.8 3,471.3 31.8 3503.1 818.3 2,684.8 55North Carolina 626.9 347.2 974.0 5.8 979.8 135.2 844.6 20North Dakota 6,739.4 4,399.6 11,139.0 192.5 11331.5 887.7 10,443.8 160Nebraska 7,190.1 5,157.8 12,348.0 465.7 12813.6 1,393.3 11,420.4 66New Mexico 560.2 46.7 606.9 16.9 623.8 36.0 587.8 17Nevada 5.2 65.1 70.4 0.0 70.4 24.1 46.3 8New York 3,448.1 395.1 3,843.2 29.8 3873.0 441.5 3,431.5 63Ohio 3,491.7 2,447.6 5,939.4 182.4 6121.8 607.3 5,514.5 53Oklahoma 1,369.5 2,079.1 3,448.5 71.0 3519.5 1,414.4 2,105.1 67Oregon 3,535.4 2,700.0 6,236.0 31.7 6267.7 936.0 5,331.7 43Pennsylvania 2,239.4 474.4 2,713.8 7.7 2,721.5 364.5 2,357.0 40South Carolina 99.1 117.6 216.7 0.3 217.0 41.2 175.8 11South Dakota 4,938.3 3,853.6 8,792.0 174.7 8,966.7 1,335.5 7,631.2 87Tennessee 214.1 2,292.7 2,506.8 65.5 2,572.3 640.3 1,932.0 70Texas 4,800.6 1,620.1 6,420.7 212.0 6,632.7 431.0 6,201.7 194Utah 313.3 1,011.4 1,324.7 202.9 1,527.6 520.4 1,007.2 21Virginia 645.1 1,903.1 2,548.2 25.6 2,573.8 728.2 1,845.6 40Washington 4,715.1 2,773.4 7,488.5 123.1 7,611.6 924.0 6,687.6 70Wisconsin 9,106.8 4,692.0 13,798.8 393.5 14,192.3 2,021.9 12,170.4 95Wyoming 73.8 879.1 952.9 8.3 961.2 331.4 629.8 19Alaska, Hawaii 20.9 193.6 214.5 4.3 218.8 66.1 152.7 22Mid-Atlantic1 840.0 1,041.9 1,881.9 3.6 1,885.5 439.1 1,446.4 36New England2 2,049.4 388.2 2,437.6 1.3 2,438.9 289.4 2,149.5 49Foreign3 526.9 868.5 1,395.4 0.0 1,395.4 734.7 660.7 11Total 147,730.6 92,623.9 240,354.5 6,315.3 246,669.7 36,376.9 210,292.8 2,1064

TABLE 1—Cooperative business volume of products marketed, supply sales andservice receipts by state, 2014

1 Mid-Atlantic consists of the states: MD, DC, DE, NJ, WV.2

New England states: CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT.3 Sourced from outside the 50 states.

4 Note: some cooperatives do business in several states, so the sumof the state number of cooperatives does not sum to the totalnumber of U.S. ag co-ops which is 2,106.


cotton, rice and beans/peas.

Minnesota top marketing state For total products marketed by ag

co-ops, Minnesota, Iowa, California andWisconsin were the leading states (inthat order). Minnesota marketed $22.2billion of farm commodities, (15.1percent of the national total for co-ops),followed by Iowa ($13.7 billion),California ($13 billion) and Wisconsin($9.1 billion).

Minnesota co-ops marketed the mostgrain and sugar ($14.5 billion,combined) while California was the topco-op state for dairy, fruit/vegetables,poultry and nuts (combined total of$12.3 billion). Arkansas was the topstate for rice, with $409 million in sales,followed by California at $328 million.

Iowa was the top state for co-oplivestock marketing ($763 million)while Texas was No. 1 for cottonproduction and ginning ($1.2 billion,combined). North Dakota co-ops weretops for beans/peas marketing ($82million) while North Carolina was thetop cooperative marketer of tobacco($295 million). New England states ledthe nation’s fishing co-ops with acombined $100 million in sales.

Iowa leading state for farm supply sales

Iowa was the top state for farmsupply sales by co-ops in 2014,recording $11.4 billion in sales forfertilizer, feed and crop protectants(Table 3). That represented 12.3percent of the national total of $92.7billion in gross farm supply sales by co-ops.

Illinois ranked second, with $8.6billion in farm supply sales. It wasfollowed by Minnesota ($7 billion),Nebraska ($5.1 billion), Wisconsin($4.7 billion), Indiana ($4.5 billion), andMissouri and North Dakota (each with$4.4 billion).

Of the six categories of co-op farmsupply sales, petroleum was the largest,at $39.2 billion. It was followed by:fertilizer ($16.2 billion), feed ($13.7

billion), crop protectants ($11.5 billion)and seed ($5.8 billion). Compared to2013, gross sales of crop protectants,fertilizer and miscellaneous other inputswere up slightly, while feed, petroleumand seed sales were down.

Fig. 2 shows that petroleumaccounted for 45 percent of total grossfarm supplies sold by co-ops. Fertilizerwas next, at 18 percent, followed byfeed (15 percent), crop protectants (12percent), seed (7 percent), and “other”supplies (7 percent).

Inter-cooperative businessCo-ops also cooperate with each

other, conducting a significant amountof inter-cooperative business. About

$36.4 billion in inter-cooperativebusiness was conducted in 2014, a slightdecrease from $37.5 billion in 2013.

The number of agricultural co-opscontinues to decline each year, due tomergers and other reasons, but thebusiness they conduct on behalf of theirmembers is increasing.

Regardless of the size of thecooperative or the roles played formembers, agricultural cooperatives areowned and controlled by theirmembers. They continue to play acritical role in marketing producers’commodities, often adding value to rawproducts, as well as selling supplies andproviding needed services to member-producers and other patrons. n

FIGURE 1Relative proportion of commodities marketing by co-ops, 2014

FIGURE 2Proportion of grossfarm supply inputs soldby co-ops, 2014

Other7%

Seed6%

Petroleum42%

Fertilizer18%

Feed15%

Crop Protectants12%

Other 6.5%

Poultry .9%

Nuts 1.1%

Sugar 5.3%

Cotton 1.5%

Fruits & Vegetables 5.7%

Livestock 3.3%Dairy 35.5%

Grains & Oilseeds 39.8%


All numbers in millions $

Grain & Oilseeds Dairy Livestock Fruit & Vegetables Cotton SugarMN 10,750.7 CA 7,342.3 IA 763.2 CA 3,193.3 TX 914.9 MN 3,756.1IA 9,029.3 WI 6,704.8 IL 658.0 FL 862.6 GA 303.8 LA 836.3IL 5964.7 MN 5,142.0 WI 621.5 MI 838.4 MS 200.0 ND 811.7ND 5,316.2 MO 4,841.7 OH 326.8 WA 757.2 NC 164.7 ID 788.2NE 5,160.3 NY 3,038.9 IN 284.8 OR 664.4 AL 117.5 MI 486.8SE 4,191.0 IL 2,267.9 KS 236.8 WI 474.6 AZ 84.8 FL 448.7KS 4,083.6 WA 2,228.1 MN 231.2 PA 409.8 AR 66.9 CO 309.0OH 2,340.6 TX 2,180.0 KY 210.2 N.Eng. 220.8 CA 62.6 MT 93.0MO 2,038.1 IA 2,082.3 MO 205.3 TX 92.3 OK 60.6 TX 70.1MT 1,026.6 MI 1,820.3 MI 194.1 NY 82.4 SC 51.3 OR 50.7

Total 143 58,836.7 Total 52,394.4 Total 4,948.3 Total 8,361.5 Total 2,253.7 Total 7,758.3Total 13’ 67,006.7 2013’ 42,729.0 2013’ 3,345.3 2013’ 8,156.6 2013’ 2,620.16 2013’ 2,908.8

Poultry Nuts Fish Rice Bean & Pea TobaccoCA 340.1 CA 1,504.6 N. Eng. 99.6 AR 409.4 ND 81.6 NC 294.6MI 230.8 OR 21.2 WA 48.8 CA 328.3 MI 46.6 KY 22.9IA 182.7 TX 17.1 AL 39.3 MS 133.4 NE 33.3 TN 21.2MO 155.1 VA 12.6 AK/HI 12.1 TX 44.7 ID 31.8 Total4 338.7

UT 131.6 GA 10.6 MidAtl. 11.8 LA 16.2 CA 15.8 Cotton GinningN.Eng. 120.8 OK 1.5 CA 1.4 MN 3.3 MT 15.5 TX 242.0CO 53.6 AL 0.5 MN 1.1 MO 0.2 WA 9.5 CA 72.7WI 46.6 LA 0.3 LA 0.9 MN 2.8 AR 37.2OH 44.9 NM 0.3 WY 1.1 AZ 26.1MN 39.5 MO 0.1 TN 24.0

LA 18.2Total 143 1,353.3 Total 1,568.8 Total 215.0 Total 935.5 Total 238.1 Total 475.7Total 13’ 726.9 2013 1,336.9 2013’ 184.5 2013’ 1,732.4 2013’ 247.1 2013’ 459.1

1 Other: Minnesota ($2.3 billion) and Iowa ($1.6 billion) were the top two states for “other” marketing which includes: forest products, hay, hops, seed marketed for growers, nursery stock, biofuels, coffee, and wool and mohair. Total for 2014 = $8,052.7 and for 2013 = $7,216.3.

2 Source: Table 7 of SR 78, Agricultural Cooperative Statistics, 2014. See that table for more information on states or regions not listed here.3 Totals are of all states and foreign, not just the co-ops listed, except for nuts, fish, rice, and bean and pea which are actual totals.4 2013 total for tobacco = $136.9 million.

All numbers in millions $

Crop Protectants Feed Fertilizer Petroleum2 Seed Other3

IA 2,216.1 IA 2,224.9 IA 2,913.7 IL 4,112.6 IL 823.3 ND 610.5IL 1,171.0 MN 1,567.8 IL 1,748.9 IA 2,918.6 IA 803.7 MN 467.3NE 800.7 ID 703.5 NE 1,295.6 IN 2,823.3 MN 683.8 WI 432.9MN 787.1 TX 694.5 MN 1,264.9 MO 2,774.9 SD 440.3 IA 358.5SD 623.3 WI 637.8 WI 858.0 KS 2,294.4 WI 367.0 OR 299.3WA 605.2 Mid Atl. 478.6 SD 835.5 ND 2,277.6 ND 331.3 WA 294.1WI 513.3 IL 466.6 MO 721.3 MN 2,219.2 NE 298.0 TN 279.9ND 475.3 NE 458.5 IN 640.6 NE 2,117.8 IN 275.3 IL 278.7IN 389.9 OH 427.2 WA 626.9 WI 1,883.0 OH 244.7 CA 274.7KS 363.0 CA 424.9 OH 614.8 OK 1,596.2 KS 216.6 TX 210.4

Total 11,530.4 13,673.8 16,251.0 39,211.3 5,790.8 6,166.6Total 13’ 11,586.0 16,183.1 17,656.5 38,523.7 5,542.1 6,441.7

1 Table 17 of SR 78 contains the data used for this table, see for more information on states or regions not listed.2 Includes all types of petroleum products and lubricants as well as bioenergy fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel.3 Includes building materials, containers, packaging supplies, machinery and equipment, meats and groceries,

automotive supplies, hardware, chicks, and miscellaneous.

TABLE 2—Top States for gross co-op marketing of commodities1, 20142

TABLE 3—Top States for co-op volume for farm supplies, 20141


SproutingNew Roots!Grass Roots Farmers’ Co-ophelps beginning livestockand poultry farmersin Arkansas

By Dan Campbell, Editore-mail: [email protected]

When Cody Hopkins and AndreaTodt launched Falling Sky Farmin the Ozark Mountains of north-central Arkansas, figuring outhow to raise livestock and poultry

was not the hardest part of the job for the twonovice farmers. Rather, it was the many otheraspects of running a farm as a successful businessthat was “a very tough nut to crack,” Hopkinssays.

There were a number of resourcesthat helped them learn to raise grass-fed beef, pastured poultry and pork.The bigger challenge, Hopkins says,was “figuring out how to get youranimals processed, finding cold storage,marketing and delivering tocustomers.” Doing all of that whilegenerating the cash flow needed tocover production costs, to live on and,hopefully, to save some money toeventually buy their land — that wasthe real trick, he confides.

Eventually, Hopkins and Todt joinedwith a small group of like-mindedproducers to open the door that hashelped so many other farmers and


Producing pasture-raised beef on Falling Sky Farm involves a management system of intensive rotational grazing. Here, Andrea Todt is stringingelectric-line fencing. Photo by Miranda Yelvington. Inset photo, opposite page: Who needs a stuffy conference room to hold a meeting when co-opmembers can convene on the grass under a beautiful Arkansas sky! Photo by Bryan Clifton. Photos courtesy Grass Roots Farmers Cooperative


ranchers overcome similarobstacles: they formed aproducer-owned co-op. Ittook about a year of talks andplanning before the GrassRoots Farmers’ Cooperativewas formally incorporated inApril of 2014. This followeda number of years duringwhich a small network ofsustainable meat producersaround the state hadinformally worked together.

“For a small producer on your own,it is hard to find the right partners inthe value chain that can help get yourproducts from farm to market,”Hopkins says. “Investing in walk-infreezers or refrigerated trailers isinefficient. We were friends with otherfarmers who we had been sharing ideaswith for years. That led to talks aboutjoint marketing, since we all were usingthe same sustainable ag productionstandards.”

Todt and Hopkins were both raisedin Arkansas, and while they each hadsome experience raising animals in theiryouth, neither had ever farmed.Hopkins earned a college degree inphysics and had taught school for acouple of years in the Northeast, butthen decided to head back to Arkansas,and in 2007 he and Todt started FallingSky Farm in Searcy County.

The county is very rural and percapita income there is well belowaverage. Jobs are needed, Hopkins says,which is another goal of the co-op: tocreate jobs and generate income in ruralareas that badly need an economic boost.

“We were looking not only for alivelihood for ourselves, but hopefullyto do something that would create somejobs for others. Raising local foods isone way for more people to make aliving where there are not always a lotof other options.”

Informal cooperation leads to co-op

During the pre-co-op years, farmerswould gain economies of scale byjointly buying bulk loads of geneticallymodified organisms (GMO)-free feed,or would aggregate enough animals to

fill a big order. “Together, toget the best price, we couldbuy 15 tons of feed. Ormaybe one of us would have100 turkeys ready to market,but would need another 100birds to fill an order. We allbenefited from workingtogether in these ways,”Hopkins recalls.

Forming the co-op was anatural outgrowth of suchactivities.

The Grass Roots Farmers’Cooperative currently has 14 members,which includes seven full members andseven apprentice members. Apprenticemembers do a one-year trial, duringwhich time the co-op provides supportin a number of ways, such as orderingfeed and with the logistics of haulinganimals to the processor. If theycomplete the first year successfully andstill want to be in the co-op, the boardvotes on whether to admit them as full,voting members.

Hopkins, the co-op’s generalmanager, says he expects that all thecurrent apprentice farmers will beapproved as full members. “There is nobig buy-in required to join the co-op,”he says. Just a token fee of $10 is paidfor a share in the co-op, which isgoverned by a five-member board.

All the members meet the USDA“beginning farmer” standard, Hopkinssays, meaning they have been farmingless than 10 years, although Hopkinsand Todt are just about to mark their10th year as farmers.

Sustainable production standards

For this co-op, “sustainable” meanshumane, environmentally benign orbeneficial farming practices arefollowed. No growth hormones orantibiotics are used for the animals or

“We were looking not only for a livelihood for ourselves,but hopefully to do something that would create some jobs for others.”

Co-op members raise poultry in portablestructures they call “prairie schooners,”which are moved to a different plot daily. The“schooners” are often towed onto a paddockright after beef cattle have grazed it. Photosby Bryan Clifton


any feed used. “We sat down together to come up

with the best production standards,”says Jeremy Prater, the co-op boardchairman. “We were not interested insetting average standards — ones thatany farmer could meet. Rather, wewanted to set the best standards. Everymember has been brought up to thesestandards so that we can ensure productconsistency across the state.

“Wherever our customers are,”Prater continues, “they will experiencethe best in what Arkansas farmers canproduce. The co-op allows us to reachout to more people.”

Beef cattle are 100 percent pastureraised. Poultry (chickens and turkeys)are also pasture raised using mobilestructures (which the co-op helped todesign) called “prairie schooners.”These rolling poultry houses are movedto a new location every day, allowingthe birds to get out in the grass andspend the day scratching and pecking.Their diet is supplemented by GMO-free feed. About 500 chickens go intoeach “schooner.” Turkeys are raised in asimilar way.

Hogs are usually raised in the forest,where they eat acorns and hickory nuts,a variety of berries or other wild fruitsand anything else a hog can root up.Their diet is also supplemented withGMO-free feeds.

“Producing pasture-raised meat takesa different management style, based onvery intensive rotational grazing,”Hopkins says. Farmers improve theirpastures by planting winter and summercover crops, such as rye grass. Raisinglivestock this way is good for the healthof the animals while also improving thequality of the soil and grass, co-opmembers say.

“On any given day, 95 percent of ourfarm is resting,” Hopkins explains.“The other 5 percent is a place of heavyactivity. The next day, we’ll have movedon to another 5 percent of the land. Ifwe are grazing cattle, the rest period ismore like 30 to 65 days, depending onthe time of year. With pigs, we allow 4

to 6 months for the forest land to rest.” Some members currently only

produce poultry, but most plan toexpand to hogs in the near future, andthen to add cattle, depending on howmuch, and what type, of land they have.

Meats are processed at USDA-inspected plants in west Arkansas orsouthern Missouri. The co-op leasesfreezer space from where it does its own“pick and pack” distribution. It leases adelivery truck.

Poultry is produced seasonally, from

early April through aboutThanksgiving. The co-op stores enoughchicken during the fall to supplycustomers throughout the winter.

Falling Sky is the largest farm in theco-op, at about 220 acres, farmed on along-term lease. Average farm size for amember is closer to 40 to 50 acres. Lastyear, the farm produced 15,000chickens, 500 turkeys, 40 head of beefand about 250 hogs.

The co-op’s goal — which it is verynear achieving — is to market about 60

USDA, Heifer International provide key help

Grass Roots Farmers’ Cooperative has received valuable financial andtechnical assistance, especially from Heifer International USA and USDA, saysCody Hopkins, the co-op general manager. Heifer International, which isheadquartered in Arkansas, is probably best known for its efforts to helpsubsistence-level farmers overseas get started in livestock production byproviding them with seed-stock animals on which to build herds. But theorganization also has a domestic program — Heifer USA — that providestechnical assistance to beginning farmers and ranchers.

Heifer USA’s technical support for the co-op included mentorship,marketing strategy development and legal help for incorporating the co-op, aswell as some working capital. It also invested in a community developmentfinancial institution (CDFI) “which is essentially a local bank with a strongsocial mission,” Hopkins says, “It created a loan-loss reserve to help smallfarmers — who might not normally have good access to credit — to scale-uptheir farms.”

USDA Rural Development has provided the co-op with two Value-AddedProducer Grants (VAPGs). The first was used to fund the co-op’s feasibilitystudy, the second for working capital needed for the launch. The USDANatural Resources Conservation Service helped the co-op on a fencingproject.

The funds have helped the co-op create an informative website thatfeatures a short video about the co-op. The website also has snapshots andshort bios of every member. “The website (www.grassrootscoop.com) hasbeen very well received and has aided in our marketing efforts by telling thestory of a how group of small farmers is working together.”

For more information on the VAPG program, visit:www.rd.usda.gov/programs-services/value-added-producer-grants.

In many respects, Hopkins says the co-op can be looked upon as a type offood hub that helps knock down barriers faced by new producers.

“The beauty of it all is that there is a great market right now for what weare producing,” he says. “If there wasn’t, I wouldn’t be talking to you rightnow. More people want to know where their food is coming from and how itwas produced, and we are happy to tell them.”


percent of its food directly toconsumers via its subscriber-based,home-delivery program. The other 40percent is sold to restaurants andinstitutional food service (includingcolleges and hospitals). It also sells meatto an online beef retailer in Missouri.

Co-op bolsters apprentice farmers

The co-op membership is quitediverse, including three militaryveterans, immigrant families fromAfrica and Costa Rica and two woman-run farms.

Among the apprentice co-opmembers who will soon be transitioningto full membership are Damon and JanaHelton. They are also new to farming— “we’re both city kids,” says Damon.He’s a military veteran who waspreviously working a corporate sales joband “traveling the country, living out ofa suitcase.” Not the way he wanted tolive the rest of his life or to raise hischildren.

A country lifestyle appealed to bothJana and him, and they becameintrigued by the burgeoninglocal/sustainable farming movement.“Both of us were passionate aboutwanting to try our hands at agricultureand to raise our children in a healthy,rural environment,” he says. So, threeyears ago, they bought a 160-acre farmin the Ouachita Mountains of westernArkansas, about 20 miles from both HotSprings and Little Rock.

The Heltons were still studying whatcrops to grow when they heard aboutthe new meat co-op and its sustainableproduction philosophy and broadereconomic mission. They applied formembership, and they say the co-op hasproved to be invaluable to them.

They currently raise pastured poultryand grass-fed beef. “We only do steersat this time, so we don’t have to worryabout a breeding program or handlingbulls,” Damon says. They plan to addhogs to the farm next year.

To move cattle from one paddock to

another, they use retractable electric-line fencing. “It’s effective andinexpensive,” Damon says. Once thecattle have grazed a paddock and movedon, a “prairie schooner” with chickensis towed in. “They eat the bugs and flylarvae, and the chicken and cattlemanure fertilizes the grass.”

“The move to the farm has been acomplete change of pace for us, and itso rewarding to see the fruits of yourlabor when you farm,” says Jana, whoalso has a fulltime job as the financialdirector for three gastroenterologymedical clinics that operate asGastroArkansas.

“It’s one thing to have an idea, butquite another to initiate it,” says Jana.The co-op has provided the help theyneeded. “Co-op members are sogenerous in sharing ideas and theirexperiences.”

As if farming, working her medicaljob and being a fulltime mom to fourchildren (ages 1-9) weren’t enough, thefamily also just opened an old-fashionedgeneral store in the small community ofCrows Station. The store focuses onselling Arkansas-produced foods andproducts. The meat cooler — nosurprise — features a good selection ofGrass Roots Farmers Co-op beef,poultry and pork.

“The storefront has a long history inthe community but had been closed forseveral years, so people were really gladto see it reopen,” Jana says. “The storeand farm work great together in helpingto educate the community about localfoods.

“We’re located just about five milesfrom a huge retirement community,where there is a lot of emphasis placedon healthy diets, including naturalmeat,” Jana continues. “That’s been agood source of business. Overall, thecommunity response [to the store andthe co-op products] has been incredible.”

Anchor farm programThe co-op hopes to grow by adding

four or five new members each year.

One way it will strive to do this isthrough an “anchor farm” program,which helps hired farmworkerstransition to farm owners. KerryHarrington had worked at Falling SkyFarm for four years and was interestedin starting her own farm, so Hopkinsand Todt helped her find some land notfar away and start her own operation.

Harrington wound up being one ofthe founding members of the co-op.“It’s another part of creating acommunity of farmers who help eachother out,” Hopkins says.

Co-op members are dispersed inthree basic geographic clusters of thestate: the Mississippi Delta region inthe east; the Ozarks of north-centralArkansas and in the Arkansas RiverValley in the west. Being that dispersedcreates some challenges, but alsoadvantages. For example, when one areagets slammed by bad weather, it mayhave less impact in another part of thestate.

“We’re often 10 degrees cooler here[in the Ozarks] than in the Delta, so wecan still produce chickens in Augustwhen it’s harder to do so there,”Hopkins says. In winter, the opposite istrue. “We’re 10 degrees cooler andwindy, so conditions are better forlivestock in the Delta.”

On the other hand, the distancescreate more challenges when it comesto aggregating animals and product forshipping.

The co-op’s CSA (communitysupported ag) program gives consumersa number of enrollment levels that aredelivered quarterly for a year. The co-op also offers monthly subscriptions forcustomers who want smaller, morefrequent deliveries.

To expand the home deliveryprogram, Hopkins says the co-op hasrecently partnered with Chef’s Shuttle,a business that delivers restaurant mealsto homes in some cities. “We are alwayslooking for ways to decrease barriers forpeople who want to try local, farm-raised meats.” n


By James Matson, Dylan Timmerman and Caitlin Butler

Editor’s note: All authors are withMatson Consulting in Aiken, S.C., whichspecializes in cooperative and small businessdevelopment services.

Corwin Heatwole is ona mission to growVirginia’s organicpoultry industry, basedon a desire to produce

healthy, local food and to help createjobs and economic activity in ruralcommunities that need both.

A lifelong farmer, Heatwole grew upon a family dairy farm, but by age 14,he was already working for a largepoultry-growing operation. At 19, hepurchased his own poultry farm and wasraising 26,000 birds under contract toCargill. His business quickly expanded,and soon he had a contract to grow avastly larger flock for Tysons.

As his commercial business boomed,Heatwole often found himself reflectingon his family’s happiness and successfarming on a much smaller scale. Hisfamily derived great satisfaction fromrunning an independent dairy farm,where they were free to operate as theysaw fit, without any corporate controlsor contracts.

That type of independence issomething most farmers cherish, andthey often cite it as one of the mainreasons they choose to farm. But thatsense of independence is getting harderto find in today’s industrialized poultryindustry.

Heatwole also often thought aboutthe fresh food his family farm produced,and contrasted that with the difficultyfamilies in his own community oftenhad in obtaining healthy, local foods.

Desire to help struggling farmers

He began having conversations withsmall-scale, local farmers who werestruggling to keep their farms afloat,many of whom desperately neededassistance. Farmers were struggling togain access to processing plants. Fororganic poultry growers, plant accesswas even more limited.

After collaborating with a closefriend, Heatwole purchased a smallflock of about 300 birds, which heraised organically to see how theprocess worked. Adopting organicpractices allowed Heatwole to increasethe value of his product, since organicbirds in the area sell for about doublethe price of non-organic chicken.

Fueled by the desire to help hisfellow farmers and the local community,Heatwole decided to start a poultry

processing facility that would focus onhandling birds for organic and small-scale growers, helping them find analternative to industrial-scale poultryproduction.

In 2013, Heatwole foundedShenandoah Processing LLC, whichoffers processing services to small-scaleand organic chicken producers in theHarrisonburg, Va., area. These servicesinclude aggregating, processing andselling chickens to distribution chains.

Although not formally organized as acooperative, Shenandoah workscooperatively with producers,consumers and the community to helpsmall-scale, independent farmers earn aprofit while providing theircommunities with healthy food andmuch-needed jobs.

New poultry processing plant bolsters Virginia’s small-scale producers

Corwin Heatwole (center, facing camera) leads poultry producers on a tour of ShenandoahProcessing’s facility in Harrisonburg, Va., which caters service to organic and small-scalechicken producers.

continued on page 37


By Meegan MoriartyUSDA Cooperative Programs

Artists create, exhibit and selltheir work through Cooperativade Servicios ARIGOS in PuertoRico. At the Shifting Gears bike shop

in Stevens Point, Wis., skilled mechanics tune-up, refurbish and sell pre-owned bicycles whileeducating the community on biking’s beneficialimpact on health and the environment.

At the Cooperativa Alice in Milan, Italy,women create costumes for television andtheater, design clothing and make uniforms forthe local football team.

Caterers and chefs feed customers at the CaféSolberg in Gotenberg, Sweden.

These business organizations may be diverse,but they have a few things in common. All ofthem are cooperatives. And all of them benefitprisoners or ex-prisoners.

Prison populationsMore than 2.2 million people in the United

States are in prison. Worldwide, 9 millionpeople are incarcerated. The United States hasthe highest prison rate in the world, with 724

From Bars to Freedom

Prisoner co-ops boostemployment, self-esteemand support re-entry into society

Graphic by Stephen Hall


people per 100,000 imprisoned.Another 600,000 are on probation orparole. In 2014, the cost to the taxpayerof incarcerating just one individual infederal prison was $29,291.

Almost 3 percent of U.S. adults areunder correctional supervision (inprison, on probation or on parole).Juvenile detention centers house 54,148youth offenders. More than three-quarters of people released from jail arearrested again within five years. Morethan half of these recidivists are arrestedwithin the first year of release.

A disproportionate number ofincarcerated individuals are AfricanAmerican males (37 percent) orHispanic males (22 percent); blackfemales are imprisoned at twice the rateof white females.

Strict sentencing rules contribute tothe high prison rate in the UnitedStates. For example, under currentfederal law, people found guilty of threedrug offenses are given life in prisonwithout parole. But these rules maychange.

Sentencing reform is a priority of theObama administration. The SentencingReform and Corrections Act (S. 2123),introduced by Sen. Charles Grassley(R-Iowa) and Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), was passed out of the SenateJudiciary Committee on Oct. 22. Thatlegislation would reduce drug-relatedmandatory sentences significantly,reduce the wide gap in sentencing termsfor powder vs. crack cocaine offenses,and provide credit toward sentencereduction for nonviolent offenders whoundergo drug rehabilitation and/or takecertain classes. The legislation wouldapply only for the 200,000 federalprisoners. However, states may followsuit, based on the concern that toomany people are in prison for too long.

A reduction in years spent in prisonwould equate to more individuals re-entering society. A small number ofthese prisoners (about 13,000 in 2013)may have acquired job skills while inprison from UNICOR, the federalprison system’s in-house employment

program. However, the vast majority ofex-prisoners lack job skills, education,self-confidence and social supports.Some face the additional challenges ofmental illness and addiction.

“In addition to dehumanizing peoplewho are incarcerated, we also totallytake away all of their economicopportunities — their livelihoods,”Jessica Gordon Nembhard, professorat John Jay College, City University ofNew York, said during an Octoberroundtable. The event was sponsoredby the Sustainable Economies Law

Center in Oakland, Calif. How can these people face a difficult

job market where many employersscreen out ex-offenders? Italy may havean answer.

Italy’s cooperative systemItaly has been a leader in forming

cooperatives, starting in the 1970s,when the Italian economy was sufferinga downturn and individuals needed aninnovative solution to address highunemployment. The social cooperativemovement gained momentum whencaregivers were faced with thedeinstitutionalization of psychiatricpatients.

In 1991, Italy enacted law 381/91,which defined two types of socialcooperatives: Type A and Type B. TypeA cooperatives provide social services,including health care and education.Members are workers or volunteerswho provide a variety of social services,including mental health and addictionservices.

Type B cooperatives help to integratedisadvantaged people into theworkforce, including individuals whoare learning disabled, mentally ill, drugand alcohol addicts, prisoners and ex-

convicts. People are certified by publicsocial service bodies as being“disadvantaged,” and then referred tothe Type B cooperative. Disadvantagedindividuals must make up at least 30percent of the B cooperative workersunder Law 381/91.

Type B cooperative workers makehandicraft item, work in manufacturing,do cleaning work, maintain parks andgardens, and engage in agriculturalactivities. Private-sector firms areobligated to employ disabledindividuals, and many businesses fulfillthis obligation by engaging B cooperatives.

Half of B cooperative income comesfrom public sources; B cooperatives get

About 10 percent of prisoners in Italy participate in prisoner cooperatives, including co-ops that operate prison farms, such as this. Photo by Awakening/Getty Images


preferential treatment in bidding forcontracts with municipalities.Volunteers may not make up more than50 percent of A or B cooperativemembers.

Italian cooperatives benefit fromsignificant government support. Theyhave lower corporate tax rates, theirreserves are not taxed and they can optto be exempted from value-added taxes.Cooperatives are obligated tocontribute to a fund intended to helpother cooperatives. These contributionsare not taxed.

Further, cooperatives are notobligated to make pension and healthcontributions. Organizations makeloans to cooperatives in Italy onpreferential terms.

Italian prisoner cooperativesAbout 10 percent of prisoners in

Italy participate in prisonercooperatives, according to Ann Hoyt,professor emeritus at the University ofWisconsin, Madison. Her researchpreliminarily has found that prisonercooperatives are a cost-effective way ofrehabilitating and transitioningprisoners back into society. Hoyt hastraveled to Italy three times to studyItalian prison cooperatives. During hervisits, she observed a deep commitmenton the part of Italians to therehabilitation of the prisoners.

Generally, prisoners first completetime in Type A cooperatives, wherethey acquire work skills and get helpfrom the professional members of thecooperative, according to Hoyt. Theyoften benefit from the services ofpsychiatrists, psychologists and legaladvisors.

Once they have acquired good workskills, prisoners may be chosen to workin Type B cooperatives, Hoyt says.These individuals get further vocationaltraining and instruction on cooperativeoperations and membership.

Type B cooperatives operate in avariety of ways. Hoyt visited a Paduaprison that operated a bakery, madehigh-end luggage and crafted shutters.

An Italian cooperative of womenprisoners made high-end cosmetics.

Hoyt says many prisons have“creative business developers who arenimble in changing from one [business]opportunity to another.” For example, aprisoner cooperative made mannequinsuntil the demand for them dried up.The prison business developer switchedgears and — working with the prisoners— started a call center, Hoyt says.

Cooperative workers also engage incarpentry, plumbing, ornamental ironwork, hand-painting wallpaper,gardening, recycling, manufacturinggarden and park furniture, makingplayground equipment and putting ontheater productions. They also producecoffee, artisan beer, wine and cheese.Prisons may allow day-release forprisoners to work in cooperatives.Convicts with community-based

sentences, or who have been grantedhouse arrest, may work in cooperatives.

All participants in the cooperativesreceive the same wages for the samejobs, whether they are prisoners, ex-prisoners or workers who have neverbeen convicted of a crime.

Membership in a co-op is highlydesirable for prisoners, because it offersthe opportunity to earn wages — amotivator to rehabilitate themselves,Hoyt says. A prison employee holds thewages for the worker, which can beused to help the prisoner’s family, tohelp the prisoner transition back intosociety after release or to purchaseitems to be used by the prisoner whilein jail.

Prisoners engage in a variety of jobs,some of which involve dangerousequipment. Hoyt visited a maximumsecurity prison for men with a

Inmates working for the Giotto Cooperative as bakers produce traditional panettone Christmascake at the state maximum security jail in Padua. Photo by Awakening/Getty Images


wholesale nursery cooperative. Theprisoners used shovels, hoes, gardenforks and farm vehicles. The womanwho ran the cooperative told Hoyt thatthe prisoners use self-discipline toensure compliance with safety rules. Forexample, after a new co-op membertook a joy ride on a farming vehicle, hisfellow prisoners ejected him from thecooperative.

Upon release, ex-offenders have ajob and a social network. Therecidivism rate for participants in Italianprisoner cooperatives is less than 5percent (compared to 75 percent in theUnited States and 70 to 90 percent intraditional Italian prison systems).

Prisoner co-ops in other countries

Prisoner cooperatives are not limitedto Italy. Several Swedish serviceorganizations established Vagen ut!, acooperative intended to benefitprisoners and individuals recoveringfrom substance abuse. Even aftergovernment funding was withdrawn,Vagen Ut! was able to employ 100workers. Other prisoner cooperatives inSweden include the Villa SolbergHalfway House, which provides workand housing to male ex-convicts whoare battling substance abuse, and KarinsDottar cooperative, formed to benefitfemale ex-convicts and/or formersubstance abusers.

Convicts at Ethiopia’s MekellePrison have formed more than 20cooperatives through which theyperform various forms of work,including farming, carpentry, plumbing,electric work and handicrafts. AnEthiopian banking institution providesloans to prisoners to start cooperatives,and the loans are guaranteed by theprison. Prisoners use wages forrestitution to victims and to invest backinto the cooperatives.

The United Kingdom has severalcooperatives that employ ex-convicts.The Ex-cell program provides housingand employment to former prisonersand homeless people and helps to

transition them to employment andhousing in the broader marketplace.

Ex-prisoners receive mental healthand substance abuse services. Theirrecidivism rate is less than 2 percent,compared to a 40-percent rate fortypical ex-offenders. Another ex-prisoner cooperative, Recycle It!,performs computer recycling and data-wiping services. Prisoners may becomemembers of the UK’s CooperativeBank, which provides them withfinancial counseling and allows them toopen bank accounts.

Prisoners and ex-convicts in BritishColumbia, Canada, who participated ina prisoner cooperative called InsideArt,created and sold paintings, glassartwork and carvings. Cooperativemembers used the proceeds to makerestitution to victims, help withtransitioning after incarceration,support prisoners’ families and to fundlocal charities. The cooperative wasstarted with a $100,000 grant, andalthough sales proceeds covered someexpenses, it folded when grant fundingdried up.

U.S. prisoner co-opsA few prisoner cooperatives have

been established in the United States.Shifting Gears, a community bicycleshop in Wisconsin, is an “offender re-entry program” created to provide ex-prisoners, at-risk youth and otherdisadvantaged people with work and lifeskills. It does this while promotingcycling as a healthy, environmentallyfriendly form of transportation. Co-opmembers work with volunteers in a safe,drug-free environment where they learnto repair, clean and recycle donated orused bicycles for resale.

Lori Yach is a volunteer at ShiftingGears who is pursuing a degree intrauma-informed care, a treatmentphilosophy used by some social serviceagencies and counselors in jails andschools that focuses on what hashappened to a person in the past, in thehope of avoiding a reoccurrence oftrauma. She says the co-op is working

with local prisons to initiate a day-release program to help prisonersworking at Shifting Gears experience asmooth transition from jail back intosociety.

“It’s good to have a safe place tohang out and be around positivepeople,” Yach says. People often comeout of jail and return to their oldacquaintances and patterns. “Peoplemay not have any family to supportthem, or, even if they do, their familymight be abusive or using [drugs],” shesays, adding that a high percentage ofinmates have dealt with some kind ofabuse.

Funding is always an issue, accordingto Yach. While the store makes enoughto pay the bills and rent, it does notmake much more. She may look intoapplying for foundation grants. ShiftingGears was created by Justiceworks Ltd.,a nonprofit organization that promotesrestorative justice. The people atJusticeworks started the cooperativeafter reading Hoyt’s research on Italianprisoner cooperatives.

Yach gets great satisfaction fromvolunteering at Shifting Gears. Whenshe works with disadvantaged youth,who often suffer from low self-esteem,“you make a difference — you can seein their eyes, they feel worthsomething.”

Recently two boys broke into theshop and stole some money. Yach saysthey will now be volunteering atShifting Gears. She sees theopportunity to work with them as anexciting chance to help the boys grow.

Transformational cooperativismIn 1995, 19-year-old Roberto Luis

Rodriguez Rosario was locked in prisonwith sentences that, servedconsecutively, he expected would keephim in jail for 35 years. Rodriguez madegood use of his time in GuayamaPenitentiary in Puerto Rico. He andseveral other prisoners foundedCooperativa de Servicios ARIGOS. Thecooperative, made up of all prisoners —both as members and the board of


directors — operates entirely inside theprison, with the assistance of an outsidecooperative expert, Lymarie NievesPlaza.

The cooperative started as a group ofprisoners doing art as therapy and tomake gifts for their families. Proud oftheir work, the prisoners reached out toa cooperative, Liga De Cooperativa yFomento Cooperativo, for informationon how to sell to the public. However,the General Law of Puerto RicoCooperatives Societies prohibits

prisoners from forming cooperatives. Rodriguez, his fellow prisoners and

Nieves lobbied the Puerto Rican Senateand wrote to Governor Sila MariaCarderon. “To our surprise, the first[person] to believe in us was thegovernor,” Rodriguez said through aSpanish interpreter at an Octoberroundtable sponsored by theSustainable Economies Law Center inOakland, Calif. “She made a promise tochange the laws so we could organize,”he continued. In 2003, the law wasamended to allow prisoners to formcooperative businesses.

Creating art and selling it to thecommunity with the help of outsidecooperatives was transformative for themembers of the ARIGOS Cooperative.“I never imagined that working in acooperative, I would find the idealmodel to rehabilitate myself,”Rodriguez said during the roundtable.He and the other members had theopportunity to attend outsidecooperative-organized exhibitsaccompanied by guards.

They chose to share their experiencewith other prisoners. “Within thecooperative, we all agreed to take onthe task, to put in simple wordseverything we ourselves hadexperienced, and to share it with theincarcerated population,” said

Rodriguez. Participation in thecooperative became a motivator forthose overcoming addiction, becausethe cooperative would not let addictedmembers attend the outside exhibits.According to Rodriguez, “my biggestsatisfaction at the end of the day wasknowing that I was working toward theservice of others.” In addition tobecoming an advocate inside the prisonfor the prison cooperative, Rodriguezserved as secretary of the cooperativefor several years, gained release to a

transitional program and then achievedprobation.

Early release came as a surprise toRodriguez, who had stopped thinkingabout his freedom. “The solution to allthe social ills that we have today is [inworking cooperatively], and theevidence is that if you could rehabilitatea delinquent person, you can doanything that is to the service of . . .society,” Rodriguez said.

During the five-year transition,Rodriguez served as a journalist for acooperative and as an editor for a reality

television show. He was freed in 2014. Rodriguez wrote a book about his

experiences, “Corazon Libre, CuerpoConfinado.” He also maintains aFacebook page that addresses hisexperiences. He still works with Nievesto reform legal obstacles to formingprisoner and ex-prisoner cooperatives.

For example, he hopes to change thePuerto Rican law that prohibits ex-prisoners from fraternizing. Currently,the law is an obstacle to his goal offorming a cooperative to help ex-

convicts gain employment andtransition back into society. Rodriguezadvocates for cooperatives atconferences and other venues.

Nieves found her life’s work whenshe helped form Rodriguez’scooperative. She calls it“transformational cooperatism.” Inaddition to working with the men atGuayama Penitentiary, Nieves hashelped form several other prisonercooperatives in both men’s and women’spenitentiaries.

Framework for successful prisoner co-ops

Italy has successful cooperatives, to alarge degree, because the Italianssupport them. Law 381/91 provides acomprehensive framework for theirorganization. Cooperatives enjoy lowertax rates, exemptions from pension andhealth contributions, and preferentialloan terms.

These co-ops also get preferentialtreatment for government contractawards. Private employers are requiredto employ disabled people.

“It’s critical to have functionalbusinesses” for a prisoner cooperativeto succeed, Hoyt says. The cooperativealso succeeds if it has a combination ofmembers, including current and ex-

“I never imagined that working in a cooperative, I would find the ideal model to rehabilitate myself.”

Roberto Luis Rodriguez Rosario was just 19when he was incarcerated in Puerto Rico tobegin serving a 35-year sentence. While in jail,he and several other prisoners formed theCooperativa de Sericios ARIGOS, whichbegan by producing handcrafted gift items formembers’ families, and later for sale to thepublic, with the help of another co-op.



Editor’s note: Malik Grace, a University of Georgie student whointerned at USDA Co-op Programs last summer, conducted thisinterview with Randy Crenshaw of Middle Georgia EMC (electricmembership cooperative), Grace’s hometown electric co-op, whichalso sponsored him on a youth tour trip to Washington D.C.

Question: What is Middle Georgia EMC’s primary mission, andwho comprises your membership? How is your customer basedivided among residential and commercial accounts?

Randy Crenshaw: Our mission is to provide electric serviceto an estimated 8,000 customers. We serve about 5,300residential accounts and about 2,700 industrial accounts. Ofthose, seven are large-load industrial accounts while about1,055 serve irrigation systems.

Q: Please provide a brief “thumbnail history” of the co-op —how and why was Middle Georgia EMC created?

A: Middle Georgia EMC was formed in 1940 to servicerural customers, primarily Dooly, Pulaski and WilcoxCounties, that were unserved by Georgia Power and othersurrounding EMCs. We’ve been a local power cooperativefor 75 years and are proud to be owned by those weserve. Our business is about much more than power. It’sabout exceptional service and commitment to community.Middle Georgia EMC has worked hard to provide qualityproducts and services at affordable prices for 75 years.

Q: Are there any new or innovative services being offered tomembers?

A: We allow members to purchase power by pre-paying inorder to not have a large deposit. We allow many ways to paybills such as phone apps, Internet payments and moneymachines.

Q: Many rural communities are struggling economically. Is thisan issue for communities in your service area, and is the co-opdoing anything to promote community economic development,beyond its basic utility service?

A: We work with all local chambers of commerce,economic development groups and state economicdevelopment groups, such as Georgia Department ofEconomic Development and Georgia EMC.

Q: How do you make members feel like true user-owners of thebusiness, rather than just customers of it?

A: By using newsletter articles, having annual meetings,using focus groups and having employees always treatmembers as the owner.

Q: Why is a utility co-op a good business model for rural peopleto be a part of?

A: It provides grass-root member participation in the day-to-day operation. It allows the savings to be given back to themember in either lower rates or capital credits.

Q: Do you face competition for members, or have any plans toexpand your service area? Do you market your “co-opdifference”?

A: We compete for large consumers who have loads largerthan 900 killowatts. We do not have plans to expand ourterritory. We have partnered with Irwin EMC to have jointmanagement since 2010.

Q: Is the co-op involved in “green-power,” such as solar orwind? What do you do to promote power conservation amongmembers?

A: We are a member of Green Power EMC, whichprovides landfill gas electricity, bio-mass plants, solar energyand chicken litter plants. The pre-pay program promotesconservation, We also promote energy conservation withnewspaper, newsletter and TV ads. Middle Georgia EMCwill be installing a 1-megawatt community solar project in2016. Members will be able to purchase fixed energy blocksof solar power that will be credited to their monthly bill. Theproject will provide an alternative to members who wouldlike to access solar power, but can’t, or don’t want to, installsolar units on their roofs.

Q: How do you recruit, elect and train board members? Does theboard meet monthly?

A: We nominate, from the local communities, directorswho have the cooperative business at heart. If theydemonstrated loyalty and positive interest in the co-op, theywill make good board members. The members elect on a 3-year term, and they meet on a monthly basis. n

Uti l i ty Co-op Connect ionMiddle Georgia EMCVienna, Ga.


By Charles W. ParrottSpecialty Crops Program DeputyAdministratorUSDA Agricultural MarketingService

Food safety ison the minds ofeveryone in theproduceindustry, and

ensuring that consumers haveaccess to a safe supply of freshfruits and vegetables is a toppriority. Concern over outbreaksof foodborne illnesses associatedwith both domestic andimported produce has sparkednew rules under the Food SafetyModernization Act (FSMA).

As customers look for localfood in grocery stores,restaurants and schools, moreretailers are requiring foodsafety certifications. Obtainingthese certifications remains abarrier for many small- and mid-sized farmers who want toparticipate in these markets.America’s cooperatives are in aunique position to help theseproducers.

Since 2003, USDA’sAgricultural Marketing Service(AMS) has offered growers andbuyers voluntary Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) andGood Handling Practices (GHP) audit programs. Theseaudits are performed through the Specialty Crops InspectionDivision. These programs verify that grower operationsfollow industry-recognized food safety practices andrecommend-ations from the U.S. Food and DrugAdministration (FDA).

However, some small- and mid-sized producers, foodhubs and cooperatives found the marketing advantages theseprograms offer were not obtainable for their operations,primarily because the certification costs and other resources

necessary for a single producerto comply with the GAPrequirements were too much ofa barrier.

GroupGAP role for co-opsAgricultural co-ops are an

important outlet for produceand other farm products. Theyprovide small farmers and othersthe opportunity to join forcesand sell to larger markets inorder to share increased profitsand benefits. Now, co-ops canhelp their members jointogether to certify their productsthrough USDA’s GroupGAPservices. Expanding the numberof GAP-certified farmers alsomay help retailers meet anincreasing demand for locallysourced food.

In 2010, several producegrowers and organizationsapproached USDA to discussdeveloping a more cost-effective,manageable on-farm food safetyverification program to aidsmaller producers. To findsolutions to this challenge, AMSpartnered with the nonprofitWallace Center at WinrockInternational to develop and testa GroupGAP pilot program tohelp smaller growers and

cooperatives meet buyers’ on-farm food safety requirements. In the GroupGAP model, farmers can unite under a

central quality management system and undergo a systemaudit that leads to a group certification. Group certificationallows members of the group to share resources and leverageeconomies of scale. For example, groups can offer employeetraining for all members of the group at once rather thaneach individual producer training his/her own employees.

Program to launch in AprilAfter three years of field testing the new audit program,

Food safety certification hurdles can be lowered through use of USDA’s GroupGAP program

Southwest Farm Fresh Cooperative produce is loaded fortransport to market. Co-ops can help their members attain foodsafety certification through the GroupGAP program, offeredthrough USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service. Photoscourtesy Wallace Center at Winrock International

Safety in Numbers


AMS will officially launch GroupGAP in April 2016, whensmall produce farmers and other operations will be eligibleto apply for certification. GroupGAP food safetycertification will increase opportunities for the entireindustry to supply and purchase GAP-certified produce.

This voluntary, fee-for-service auditing program may helpsmaller producers and co-ops meet increasing consumer

demand for local food while maintaining strong food safetystandards. It will also demonstrate that small- and mid-sizedfarmers, co-ops and food hubs can meet retailer food safetyrequirements for institutional and retailer purchasingprograms. Members of the agricultural community, throughthis cooperative group system, can take advantage of theshared certification costs, improve quality managementsystems and increase overall food safety.

Ultimately, GroupGAP increases on-farm visits bytrained and certified auditors, increasing oversight ofgrower’s practices.

The three-year pilot program included 22 projects thathelped groups of growers and cooperatives work together toobtain GroupGAP certification. Food hubs and othergrower groups pooled their resources to establish food safetybest practices, conduct food safety trainings, develop qualitymanagement systems and pay for certification costs.

GroupGAP works for Amish co-op

Sunny Harvest is an Amish farmers’ cooperative inLancaster County, Pa., that participated in the GroupGAPpilot program. The co-op is comprised of 16 diversifiedproduce growers who sell to local retailers and distributors.

By working closely with Sunny Harvest leaders, theGroupGAP pilot team developed an implementation planthat enabled the growers to receive GAP certificationwithout compromising the cultural traditions of the

Amish community. The pilot clearly laid the groundwork for a sustainable

culture of food safety by focusing on coaching and internalauditing to deepen the co-op members’ understanding offood safety best practices.

Helps beginning farmers expand markets The Agriculture and Land-Based Training Association

(ALBA), a nonprofit in Salinas, Calif., also participated inthe GroupGAP pilot. ALBA provides farm business trainingand opportunities to farm workers and limited-resource,aspiring farmers in Monterey County. Members of ALBA’sSmall Farm Incubator Program sell their produce throughthe organization’s food hub, ALBA Organics, focusing onexpanding sales to large retailers and colleges.

During the pilot, ALBA identified the food safetystandard best suited to the needs of their buyers. Membersalso worked together to develop relevant safety practices,collect required documentation and provide their owninternal auditing services. This ultimately improved producttraceability and allowed for faster corrective actions.

PMA conference examines GroupGAP

AMS recently presented the details of the GroupGAPprogram at the 2015 Produce Marketing Association (PMA)Fresh Summit meeting in Atlanta, Ga. During the meeting,USDA Under Secretary for Marketing and RegulatoryPrograms Ed Avalos led two listening sessions whererepresentatives of the Wallace Center and GroupGAP pilotparticipants explained the pilot project and outlined thebenefits of this new program for the industry.

The bottom line: the GroupGAP Program can provide arobust certification process that builds a culture of foodsafety and allows producers to leverage resources. Theprogram also could increase the total number of growers inthe supply chain who are GAP-certified, a win for industryand American consumers.

GroupGAP is an innovative solution that enables small-and mid-sized farmers, co-ops and food hubs to sharecertification costs, improve quality management systems andreduce paperwork. It allows USDA to help producers reach“food safety by the numbers.”

Visit the AMS website at www.ams.usda.gov/groupgap tolearn more about GroupGAP certification and upcomingevents as USDA prepares for the official launch. n

GroupGAP enables small- and mid-sized farmers, co-ops and food hubs toshare certification costs, improve qualitymanagement systems and reducepaperwork.


By Heather Berry

Editor’s note: Berry is associate editor ofRural Missouri Magazine, the statewidemember publication of the MissouriAssociation of Electric Cooperatives. Thisarticle is slightly adapted from one thatappeared in the September, 2015, issue ofthat publication. If you know of a co-op, aco-op employee or member who is helping tomake their community a better place tolive, please send a note to:[email protected].

She doesn’t complainabout the weather orthe fact that she getspaid in kibble. Shenever asks for time off.

She simply works like a dog — becauseshe is one.

Daisy May, a black Labrador/bordercollie mix, is one of Lynn Ballard’s twocertified search-and-rescue dogs. Thetrainer, from Fulton, Mo., and her four-footed partners are members ofMissouri’s official urban search-and-rescue group: Task Force 1.

For more than 20 years, Ballard hasworked canines to heed the call in timesof need. She read an article one day thatgot her interested in training dogs forsearch-and-rescue purposes.

“I worked at a press as a proofreader,and they printed a variety of dog andveterinary magazines. That’s where Icame across articles about people whodid search and rescue with dogs,” saysthe Callaway Electric Cooperativemember.

Immediately intrigued, Ballard and afriend found a group called MissouriCanines and began training with them.

“Honestly, I was addicted from thestart,” says the 43-year-old. “Getting to

spend time with your dog while hangingout with friends was a lot of fun.”

While with the Versailles, Mo.-basedgroup, Ballard and her dogs didwilderness work, searching for lost ormissing individuals and runaways. Afterseveral years, she joined the MissouriRegion C Technical Rescue Team’scanine division, based in St. Louis. Theteam primarily worked with the FBI onevidence recovery in cold cases. “That’swhere I got into cadaver work,” Ballardadds.

For the past six years, Ballard’s beenpart of Missouri’s Task Force 1 as amember of the canine search-and-rescue team. A Federal EmergencyManagement Agency (FEMA) partner,the team works through the BooneCounty Fire Protection District andtrains at facilities in Columbia, Mo.

Finding the right partnerOn average, canine search-and-

rescue training takes two to four years,depending upon a dog’s age, ability andskills. It takes a dog that’s smart,

trainable and easily rewarded with a toy.And you don’t need to buy an expensivepurebred to have a search-and-rescuecanine.

“If your dog can be trained to take acommand, fetch the toy for you, it’s agood start,” Ballard says. “But if yourdog runs to fetch the toy, gets distractedby a dog walking past or a bird flyingoverhead and stops, it may or may notwork.

“Searching is really a game of hide-and-seek for the dogs,” adds the trainer.“Getting them to hunt for something isas much a mental game as it is aphysical one. When they find thetarget, they’re happy, but what theyreally want is a reward from you, theirowner. That usually means a toy andsome roughhousing with them. Theyjust want to know they did well andyou’re proud of them.”

In order to be certified for searchand rescue, the dogs must passnumerous trials, such as directability,control, agility and bark alerts. Some ofthese tests, such as scent testing, are

Co-ops & CommunityReady for the Call: Missouri electric co-op member and hercanine search-and-rescue teams help in times of need


held out of state. Dogs and trainersmust be recertified every three years toremain deployable.

But passing the tests doesn’t meanthe work is over. Trainers must drilldaily and be able to prove their dogs’abilities at any time.

Passing or failing means the canineand the trainer pass or fail togetherbecause the two are a team. Both mustbe able to go into a situation and ignoredistractions.

“There are days I come home frommy job and don’t feel like working thedogs,” says Ballard, who works at theDollar General distribution warehousein Fulton, Mo. “But I do. The dogs arededicated, so I need to be, too.

“My first search dog was a Germanshepherd named Zema, but she didn’twork out,” Ballard says. “When a dogdoesn’t make the cut, they go on tobecome a pet for someone else or theowner keeps them. Personally, I keepthem, because I view it as my dog andmy responsibility. I love them as muchas the others.”

The trainer’s first certified dog washer husband’s Doberman pinscher,Gillis. The dog was wilderness andcadaver trained but died at age 6 froman enlarged heart. Ballard has had otherfour-footed partners — a GermanShepherd named Tyler, a Belgianmalinois named Ali, and a Labrador,Max, to name a few. Currently, Lynn’scertified teammates are Daisy May,trained for live finds, and Toby, a 4-year-old Dutch shepherd trained to findhuman remains.

The nose knowsMissouri’s Task Force 1 is broken

into teams — red, white and blue —and those teams train together quarterlyto be ready for any call.

On one recent Saturday, with thetemperatures hovering around 100degrees, team members donned all theirgear and headed to a training site inBoone County they call “the pile,” astrategically engineered mountain ofwreckage which, to the casual eye, looksa lot like an entire city block has fallen

down. Rusted metal pipes poke up fromchunks of broken concrete, and vehiclesare overturned. Today, the teampractices as if a tornado has hit a town.

Well in advance of the canine teamarriving, Lee Turner, fire districtlieutenant and information technicianfor the department, is hidden in acrevasse under a massive pyramid ofconcrete. Once the team is briefed,everyone takes their posts. Ballard andDaisy are up first, and Daisy must sniffLee out.

Up and down, over and under, thedog runs, stopping briefly to sniff theair. After only minutes, Daisy startsbarking rapidly, alerting Ballard and therescue team that a person has beenfound alive in the debris.

“The dogs are an important part ofour team’s success,” says MatthewSchofield, Missouri Task Force 1 leaderand Jefferson City’s fire chief. “If we’regoing to be serious about findingpeople in rubble, a canine unit must bepart of that solution.

“Their ability to identify so manyscents and quickly process one specificsmell out of all the others is somethingwe’ll never fully appreciate,” he says.

Ready for the callOf the many calls to which Ballard

and her dogs have responded since1994, some stick out more than others— the abduction of an east-centralMissouri boy, the EF-5 tornado in May2011 that nearly wiped Joplin off themap, the call in October 2012 forHurricane Sandy in New York and theSeptember 2013 flooding in Colorado.

“Unless we’re on a federaldeployment, we’re not usuallyreimbursed for expenses,” says Ballard,“but none of us do this for the money.Like the dogs, we want a goodoutcome, to help those who need help.That’s our reward.”

For information about the MissouriTask Force 1 canine search-and-rescueteam, contact Doug Westhoff, assistantchief for the Boone County FireProtection District, at 573-447-5000. n

As part of a training exercise, Lynn Ballard’s rescue dog, Daisy May, works to find a victim buriedin debris. The structurally engineered rubble simulates situations rescue dogs may work infollowing a disaster. Opposite page: Lynn Ballard, second from right, and other Missouri TaskForce 1 members confer during a rescue exercise. Photos by Heather Berry, courtesy RuralMissouri


By Rich Myers, EditorNational Center for AppropriateTechnology

For many small-scalepoultry producersaround the country, thelack of appropriatelyscaled processing

facilities can be a serious barrier toentering a market.

When Kevin Ellis —a poultryspecialist with the National Center forAppropriate Technology (NCAT), whoworks with NCAT’s ATTRA(Appropriate Technology Transfer forRural Areas) program — began workingwith producers in Iowa, that obstaclewas immediately clear.

“Everyone I talked to agreed that thelack of small- or medium-sizedslaughter facilities was a huge hole inthe local food systems,” Ellis says.“However, demand in the neighboring

Omaha market is strong for local,pastured poultry.”

The effort isn’t completed yet, butproducers in the area have begun towork on forming a cooperative thatwould allow members to aggregate theirproduct, process their poultry, securefederal inspection and transportproducts to local markets.

Ellis is taking part in that effort. “Myhope is that a cooperative businessmodel will allow for operations that canbe sustainable and serve the needs oflocal farmers for years to come.”

ATTRA’s role ATTRA has plenty of such long-

term experience under its belt — morethan a quarter century of assisting low-input, sustainable and organicproduction in the United States.

ATTRA’s work with cooperatives isjust one aspect of the prominent role ithas developed in sustainable agriculture.

It has been a pioneer in the field,providing information and researchservices to American farmers, ranchers,educators, Extension personnel andothers involved in commercialagriculture.

In recent years, ATTRA also hasoffered expertise on marketing crops inthe regions where they’re grown,including working on farm-to-schooland farm-to-institution initiatives thathave involved agriculture marketingcooperatives in Montana and otherstates.

NCAT, a nonprofit with offices in sixstates, operates ATTRA through anagreement with the USDA RuralBusiness-Cooperative Service.

How ATTRA works NCAT employs specialists in

agronomy, horticulture, animal scienceand health, soils, water, food systems,agricultural energy, marketing andeconomics. The specialists are thebackbone of ATTRA.

They research the latestdevelopments in sustainable agriculture— including leading-edge research andpractical innovations from America’smost creative farmers and ranchers.Most ATRRA staff are farmers,ranchers or market gardenersthemselves who bring years of practicalexperience to the table.

That research and knowledge makesits way into the resources offered byATTRA, including hundreds ofpublications on sustainable agriculture,along with a growing number ofwebinars and videos. It also providesresources for veterans interested inagriculture; databases (including apopular site where students can findinternships and producers can findinterns); online tutorials and the long-running “Ask an Ag Expert” hotline.

Topics these resources cover includehorticultural crops, field crops, soils andcomposts, pest management, irrigationand other water-quality and waterconservation-issues. Others addressgrass farming, marketing and business

Andy Pressman (far right), a sustainable agriculture specialist with NCAT,talks about appropriate tools for small, sustainable farms at an “Armed toFarm” workshop in Houghton, N.Y. Photos courtesy ATTRA

ATTRA resources offer valuable assistanceto sustainable producers, cooperatives

Expertise to Share


strategies, market gardening, riskmanagement and agricultural energy.

ATTRA’s print publications can beordered by mail and are also available asPDF or HTML documents fromATTRA’s website. The website is bothdesktop and mobile friendly. ATTRA

materials also are available in digitalformats, including flash drives,databases, webinars, videos andPowerPoint slide shows.

The resources, with the exception ofa few publications, are free.

Ask an Ag Expert ATTRA’s toll-free telephone hotline

service and e-mail address are popularwith growers, educators and others whocall or send questions about sustainableagriculture and related topics. ATTRAspecialists help them find answers usingATTRA resources or, if necessary, other

research. Finding answers for clientsmakes the specialists ever moreknowledgeable. • ATTRA’s Helpline is: 800-346-9140• ATTRA’s Spanish Helpline is: 800-

411-3222• The “Ask an Ag Expert” e-mail form

is posted at: www.attra.ncat.orgThe best way to get an overview for

what ATTRA offers is to visit itswebsite: www.attra.ncat.org.

ATTRA translatedATTRA is translating many of its

publications into Spanish and hastranslated a number into Hmong(spoken by many immigrants fromsoutheast Asia). In addition to itspublications and research, ATTRA canprovide speakers in English and Spanishfor conference and workshops, as wellas for research and project partnership. n

ATTRA office contacts

Contact your nearest ATTRAoffice with questions, whetheryou’re looking for information onsustainable agriculture or apossible partner for a co-opproject.

NCAT Headquarters3040 Continental DriveP.O. Box 3838Butte, MT 59701406-494-4572800-275-6228

NCAT California Office36355 Russell Boulevard.P.O. Box 2218Davis, CA 95617530-792-7338800-411-3222

NCAT Gulf States Office510 George StreetSuite 212Jackson, MS 39202866-643-2767

NCAT Southwest Regional Office118 BroadwaySuite 524San Antonio, TX 78205866-319-1669

NCAT Southeast Office207 West Center StreetP.O. Box 3657Fayetteville, AR 727011-866-442-6085

Northeast Office900 Rutter AvenueSuite 16Forty Fort, PA 18704479-587-3471877-248-5379

NCAT horticulture specialist Guy Ames discusses elderberry production with “Armed to Farm”conference members in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

“My hope is that a cooperative business model will allow for operations that can be sustainable and servethe needs of local farmers for years to come.”


By Meegan Reilly Moriarty, J.D.USDA Cooperative Programs

Editor’s note: This article is not intendedto serve as legal advice, but rather as asurvey of several forms of business entitiesthat readers may want to further explore.Individuals considering forming a BenefitCorporation, a B-Corporation or a SocialPurpose Corporation should consult with anattorney.

In the November/December 2015 issue ofRural Cooperatives, Idiscussed L3Cbusinesses, a type of

LLC (limited liability corporation) thatmust serve a charitable purpose and wasdesigned to attract foundation funds(although it does not have to).

This article focuses on another“hybrid” form of business that serves adual for-profit and socially beneficialpurpose: the benefit corporation. Thebenefit corporation was created to allowfor-profit companies to also pursue acharitable purpose. Unlike the L3C,this business is not limited in its pursuitof income or capital appreciation (otherthan by its obligation to also pursue asocial good). The benefit corporationcan be adapted to operate usingcooperative principals.

BackgroundBusinesses can operate in a variety of

ways and for a variety of lawfulpurposes. Historically, an organizationthat intended to serve a charitablepurpose logically would consideroperating as a nonprofit organizationunder state law. While a nonprofit canacquire earnings or get funding fromprivate donors and foundations, it

cannot distribute (or liquidate) thoseearnings to the individuals that controlthe organization. A nonprofit cannotraise equity by issuing stock, since itbelongs to the public.

A nonprofit can secure debtfinancing, but it may not get the bestterms, since its difficulty in raisingcapital makes it harder to pay down theloan. Further, a nonprofit that is exemptfrom tax under Internal Revenue Code(IRC) Section 501(c)(3) is subject to thestringent private benefit, privateinurement and excess benefittransaction rules. Violation of theserules can result in loss of exempt statusand/or high excise taxes. (See IRCSections 501(c)(3) and 4958.)

The corporate form of business alsohas significant limitations if operatingfor a beneficial purpose. Directors andofficers of a corporation who wish tooperate the business for purposesbeyond solely generating profits run therisk becoming targets of shareholderlawsuits. Corporations are required bystate law to be operated for the benefitof their shareholders. (See Dodge v.Ford Motor Co., 204 Mich. 459, 507,170 N.W. 668, 684 (1919); eBayDomestic Holdings, Inc. v. Newmark,16 A. 3d 1 (Del. Ch. 2010).)

Corporate officers and directors owea fiduciary duty of loyalty and care. Theduty of loyalty mandates that fiduciariesact for the best interest of thecorporation and put the corporation’sinterests ahead of their own when theyare in conflict. The duty of carerequires that fiduciaries pay attentionand make good business decisions.Under the “business judgment rule,”courts rebuttably presume that directorsare acting in good faith, with goodinformation, and that their actions will

benefit the corporation. (See e.g.Aronson v. Lewis, 473 A.2d 805 (Del.1984.))

Generally, the business judgmentrule gives directors and officers somelatitude to make decisions that promotea social good as long as there is apurported, believed, or actualconnection to the value of thecorporation. Many states (but notDelaware, where many businesses areincorporated) have laws that allowfiduciaries to consider constituenciesother than shareholders when makingdecisions; members of theconstituencies vary by state, but mayinclude employees, former employees,suppliers, creditors, customers and thecommunity. (See Eric W. Orts, BeyondShareholders: Interpreting CorporateConstituency Statutes, 61 Geo. Wash.L. Rev. 14 (1992).)

However, courts continue to see theshareholders’ interests to be paramounteven when acknowledging directors’legitimate interest in considering otherconstituencies. (See e.g. Baron v.Strawbridge & Clothier, 646 F. Supp.690 (E.D. Pa. 1986).) So even with thelatitude provided by the businessjudgment rule and even in states withconstituency statutes, directors run therisk of being liable in a suit for breachof fiduciary duty.

Generally, when dealing withunwanted takeovers, directors may takereasonable actions to protect thecorporation’s policies, but defense of asocially motivated policy that does notenhance the value of the corporation isnot permissible. (See e.g. eBayDomestic Holdings Inc. v. Newmark,16 A. 3d 1 (Del. Ch. 2010)). When acorporation’s ownership or control isbeing transferred, the directors’ job

Legal CornerBenefit corporations aim to promote public good;easily adapted to co-op principles


becomes getting the best stock price forthe shareholders. Accepting a bid forthe corporation that preserves thecorporation or its management when ahigher price is available is an actionablebreach of fiduciary duty. (See Revlon,Inc. v. MacAndrews & ForbesHoldings, Inc., 506 A.2d 173 (Del.1986); In re The Topps CompanyShareholders Litigation, 926 A.2d 58(Del. Ch. 2007)).

Shareholders can sue if they thinkdirectors or officers have engaged inmisconduct or wasted corporate assets.Penalties for directors and officers caninclude money damages, disgorgement

of profits from the director or officer,removal of directors or officers,rescission of the relevant transaction,and payment of attorney’s fees. (SeeSections 8.31 and 7.46 of the RevisedModel Business Corporation Act ThirdEdition Revised 2002.)

Benefit corporationsGiven the limitations of the

nonprofit and corporate business forms,creative individuals have inventedseveral business entities that can operatefor a social benefit purpose, raisecapital, preserve an adopted social orenvironmental purpose in the event ofmerger and acquisition, and earn anddistribute profits. One of these entitiesis the benefit corporation (or the publicbenefit corporation, the name by whichan alternative form to the model benefitcorporation is known in somejurisdictions).

Benefit corporation legislation hasbeen adapted in 31 states and is beingconsidered by five more. The modellegislation, drafted by attorney BillClark, with Drinker, Biddle and ReathLLP, creates a new category of business

entity, but unless otherwise specified inthe benefit corporation legislation,existing corporate law applies. Allreferences in this article are to themodel legislation; practitioners shouldexamine the specific state legislationthat they are considering because it maydiffer from the model legislation.

Unlike strictly profit-motivatedcorporations, a benefit corporation’spurpose is to have a general publicbenefit, defined as a “material, positiveimpact on society and theenvironment.” Benefit corporationfiduciaries are required under the modellegislation to consider the impact of

their decisions on shareholders, otherconstituencies — including workers,suppliers, customers, subsidiaries, andthe community — and on non-financialobjectives, including benefiting theenvironment and society. Fiduciaries arealso required by the model legislationto consider the short-term and long-term interests of the corporation (thelong-term interests of which may bestbe served by not being acquired ormerged into another company). Thecorporation may also name a specificpublic benefit that it will pursue.

According to the white paper byClark and Larry Vranka of CanonchetGroup LLC, the “general publicbenefit” provision in the model statutewas included (rather than just allowingthe corporation to choose a specificbenefit) for two reasons: 1. to permitcorporations to pursue a broad socialmission without fiduciary liability, and2. to prevent them from“greenwashing” their organizations bychoosing and publicizing one benefitand using other corporate resources toengage in activities that are notbeneficial.

The general public benefit provisionis intended to be flexible and to give apositive orientation to the business. It isdrafted broadly to allow individualcorporations to creatively arrive at apublic benefit. While the requirementthat the corporation benefit society andthe environment seems onerous,according to the white paper,corporations are not necessarily alwaysrequired to benefit both. The benefit isto be “taken as a whole” under thestatute and assessed as a whole.Additionally, commentators havecomplained (according to the whitepaper) that the requirement for a

general public benefit that makes a“material” difference is vague. Thedrafters responded in the white paperthat the assessment against theindependent standard clarifies themeaning of “material.”

The model statue suggests severalspecific public benefits that a benefitcorporation could include as part of itsmission: 1. Providing beneficial products or

services to the low-income orunderserved;

2. Promoting economic opportunities; 3. Protecting the environment; 4. Promoting health; 5. Promoting the arts and sciences; 6. Funding beneficial entities; 7. “Conferring any other particular

benefit on society or theenvironment.” As item 7 indicates, this list is not

intended exclude other beneficialpurposes.

Reporting standardsThe model legislation drafters

avoided including statutoryperformance standards or creating a

Benefit corporation legislation has been adapted in 31 statesand is being considered by five more.


new government body to evaluate thecorporations. Instead, they mandatedreporting using a private third-partystandard. The white paper lists anumber of third-party standardsorganizations that would be acceptableunder the legislation. These include B-Lab, The Global Reporting Initiative(GRI), GreenSeal, UnderwritersLaboratories, ISO2600, and GreenAmerica. GRI and B Lab do not chargefor the use of certain of their standards.

Except in Delaware, a benefitcorporation must promulgate an annualreport based on a private third-partystandard: 1. to its shareholders; 2. on itswebsite, and 3. with the state secretary.

This report would not be required tobe audited, but some benefitcorporations may decide to have third-party audits conducted to enhance theircredibility. The model statute mandatesthat the third-party standard beindependent, comprehensive, credible,and transparent.

The third-party organization isindependent of the benefit corporationif it follows rules assuring that it is notfunded by the benefit corporation’sindustry and that most of theorganization’s governing body is notassociated with the industry.

The standard is comprehensive if ittakes into account the benefitcorporation shareholders, workforce,the workforce of its subsidiaries andsuppliers, its customers, the community,the local and global environment,societal factors, the short- and long-term interests of the corporation, andthe general and specific benefit beingpursued by the corporation.

The standard is credible under themodel legislation if it is created usingexpertise and a multi-stakeholderapproach including a public commentperiod.

Transparency is achieved: 1. Bymandating that criteria (and theirrelative weightings) used by thestandard are publicly available, and 2.By requiring the organizationdeveloping the standard to identify itsmembers (as well as any conflicts ofinterest) and to describe howmembership changes and standardrevision changes are made.

Fiduciary responsibilitiesImportantly, the model legislation

uses language in several sectionsintended to ensure that courts will nothold fiduciaries liable for failing tofollow shareholder primacy rules. Itstates that the general and publicbenefits are “in the best interest of thebenefit corporation,” thus assuring thatbenefit company directors and officerswho pursue public benefits (rather thansolely focusing on profit maximization)will not be liable for fiduciaryviolations. The model statute explicitlystates that directors do not need to givepriority to the interests of shareholdersor any other particular stakeholder orgroup unless mandated by the bylaws ofthe corporation.

Directors and officers have wideauthority to further the best interest ofthe corporation, so long as they pursuea public benefit; any specific benefitmandated by the corporation; theinterests of community stakeholders(the shareholders, employees, suppliers,customers, and subsidiaries); theenvironment; and the long- and short-term interests of the corporation.

Fiduciaries remain subject to andprotected by the business judgmentrule. A disinterested director whomakes a good-faith, informed decisionthat the director rationally believes tobe in the best interest of thecorporation is protected from liability.

Interestingly, directors and officersare not liable for money damages ifthey fail to pursue the general orspecific public benefit. And fiduciarieshave no duties toward third-partybeneficiaries of the general or specificpublic benefit purpose of thecorporation unless the corporationarticles allow a specific class ofindividuals to bring an enforcementaction. Generally, directors,shareholders who own 2 percent ofoutstanding shares, and 5-percentowners of a parent company are theonly constituents with standing to bringa derivative action on behalf of thecorporation to enforce the benefitpurpose.

Derivative suits can move forward if:a director or officer failed to pursue thecorporation’s general or specific benefit;did not achieve a duty or standard ofconduct; or did not provide the publicwith the annual benefit report (bypublishing it on a website, delivering itto shareholders and providing it to thesecretary of the state) written inaccordance with a third-party standard.

Remedies available under the statuteare equitable. The white paperspeculates that a good faith effort topursue the general or specific benefitpurpose might defeat a derivative suit;but for meritorious actions, a courtmight give an extended period of timeto demonstrate the achievement of abenefit. Other remedies could includeputting in place procedures to considerconstituencies that had been neglectedand enforcing the requirement topublish the benefit report.

Directors are still required to pursuethe purpose of the benefit corporationand consider community stakeholdersin a change of control, merger,consolidation, or conversion. Anychange in the form of the entity is

Co-ops and other businesses can consider operating as one of the corporate entities that have been created to further a social purpose

and avoid fiduciary liability for violation of the shareholder primacy rule.


required to be approved by two-thirdsof the shareholders. The corporation’sbylaws can be amended by a two-thirdsvote of the shareholders to terminate itsstatus as a benefit corporation. Sale ofall the benefit corporation’s assets alsoeffectively terminates the corporationand must be approved by a two-thirdsvote.

Benefit director and benefit officer

Publicly traded benefit corporationsare required to designate a benefitdirector whose duties include preparingthe annual benefit report. In preparingthe report, the benefit director isrequired to address whether thecorporation pursued its general andspecific purpose and whether thedirectors followed appropriate standardsof conduct including consideringcommunity and environmental interests.

The benefit director also must

describe any compliance failure in thereport. Non-publicly tradedcorporations may also designate abenefit director. Benefit companies arealso permitted to designate a benefitofficer who can help the companypursue its public benefit or prepare thebenefit report.

Converting to a benefit corporation

When an entity is planning tochange to a benefit corporation (orcease to be a benefit corporation) as aresult of a merger, consolidation orconversion, the model benefitlegislation requires that shareholders ofevery class (and individuals entitled toreceive property distributions) approvethe plan by a two-thirds vote. Thismethod of approval is required

regardless of contrary voting or consentrules in the entity’s articles ofincorporation, bylaws, or (in the case ofa limited liability company) operatingagreement.

The corporation must amend itsarticles of incorporation to include astatement that the corporation is abenefit corporation. In some states,dissenting shareholders are entitled toreceive the fair market value of theirshares.

B-Corps and B-LabB-Lab provides third-party standards

for benefit companies and was theorganization behind the creation of themodel benefit company legislation. B-Lab was formed by Jay Cohen Gilbert,Bart Houlahan and Andrew Kassoy, allStanford University alumni. Gilbert andHoulahan previously ran a multi-million-dollar sports footwear andapparel company while Kassoy was a

private equity investor. B-Corporations are corporations that

have received the seal of approval fromB-Lab. Companies earn the seal byundergoing a B-impact assessment,developed by an advisory board ofbusiness people and academics. Theassessment quantifies the company’simpact and describes how it is doingcompared with other similar companies.The assessment measures the company’senvironmental practices, treatment ofworkers, customers, and consumers, andits governance practices particularlywith respect to accountability andtransparency.

ConclusionCooperatives and other businesses

can consider operating as one of thecorporate entities that have been

created to further a social purpose andavoid fiduciary liability for violation ofthe shareholder primacy rule. Somebusinesses may want to operate asbenefit corporations, have a general andspecific purpose, and be publiclyrecognized for adhering to a stringentthird-party standard. Some benefitcorporations may want the furtherrecognition of achieving B-corporationstatus by being certified by B-Lab. Andother businesses may prefer a lessstringent alternative.

Washington, California and Floridahave enacted legislation enabling “socialpurpose corporations” or SPCs, anothercorporate form intended to operate fora beneficial purpose but having fewerrequirements than benefit corporations.The Washington SPC operates for ageneral purpose and can choose one ormore specific purposes. The CaliforniaSPC (also known as a Flexible PurposeCorporation) generally operates for a

specific purpose but can elect to alsohave a general purpose. These entitiesmay be a good choice for businessesthat do not want to go to the expense ofadhering to a third-party standard, or inthe case of the California SPC, want tohave just a specific social purpose.However, the more stringentrequirements of the benefit corporationprovide more credibility fororganizations that want to avoid theappearance of “greenwashing.” n

References• IRC Section 501(c)(3)• IRC Section 4958• Cal. Corp. Code Sections 2500-3503• Revised Code of Washington Sections

23B.25.005-23B.25.150• Model Business Corporation Act

Even with the latitude provided by the business judgment rule…directors run the risk of being liable for breach of fiduciary duty

unless they operate as part of a benefit corporation.



NewslineSend co-op news items to: [email protected]

Co-op developments, coast to coast

TFC feed mill becomes movie set

A Tennessee Farmers Cooperativefeed mill in LaVergne, Tenn., wastransformed into a movie set in Octoberto film scenes for “Where the FastLane Ends.” The movie featuresChristopher Knight (best known forplaying Peter Brady in “The BradyBunch” television show) and ScottReeves (well known for his soap operaroles on “General Hospital” and the“Young and the Restless”). Some co-opemployees at the mill were given on-camera roles. Other scenes were filmedin Franklin, Tenn., using TennesseeFFA members.

The movie is written and producedby Mark Miller, singer with countrymusic band Sawyer Brown. The goal ofthe movie is to help spread a positivemessage about modern-day animalagriculture. TFC’s Feed and AnimalHealth Department helped support theproduction of the movie, which is set todebut next summer.

Last summer, TFC hosted anexclusive premiere of “The Ivy LeagueFarmer,” another agriculture-orientedmovie written and produced by Miller.The premiere, held at a cinema inSmyrna, Tenn., helped to raiseawareness of food insecurity, to supportthe Murfreesboro City Schools’“backpack initiative” and to helpeducate the public about modern-dayagriculture. TFC’s Feed and AnimalHealth Department, along with severalother agriculture companies, helpedfund the production.

“When one of our feed-industrypartners, NutraBlend, told us the storyabout The Ivy League Farmer and howit addresses the importance of

A scene from a new movie,“Where the Fast Lane Ends,” is filmed atthe Tennessee Farmers Cooperative (TFC)feedmill in LaVergne, Tenn. From left, actorChris Knight, TFC’s Mike Richardson and Bobby Brown,along with actors Scott Reeves and Terri Minton, film ascene near the bagging line.


agriculture and feeding a hungry world,we said, ‘This is something we want tobe a part of,’” says Paul Davis, TFC’sdirector of feed and animal health.“The film sends a positive message tothose who might have a limitedknowledge of the agricultural industry.”

“This movie represents a differentkind of outlet to bring the messageabout hunger here in America and toshow the heart of what the farmingindustry is all about,” adds Miller.

“The Ivy League Farmer” tells thestory of 23-year-old Joel Gilbert, arecent Harvard graduate who returns tothe family dairy for the summer beforestarting a new Wall Street job.Realizing the dairy is in trouble, heconfronts his strong-willed father withideas of using modern technologies,management practices and businessethics to ensure the farm’s future.Gilbert becomes reacquainted with aformer girlfriend, now a teacher, andtogether they devise a plan to providefood for undernourished students andbuild awareness of world hunger.

As part of the premiere, TFC made a$5,000 donation to the MurfreesboroCity Schools’ backpack initiative, whichprovides food for students who arelikely to go home to empty pantries.

CDF to host home care worker co-op conference

The Cooperative DevelopmentFoundation (CDF) will host a HomeCare Worker Cooperative Conferencein the Minneapolis-St. Paul area thisfall. The two-day conference will bringtogether home care worker cooperativemembers, managers, technicalassistance providers and steeringcommittees to discuss the economics ofhome care, organizing, expansion,collaboration and best practices. Toensure that the conference meets theneeds of the audience, CDF isencouraging anyone interested in thesubject to complete a brief, six-questionsurvey. The results of this survey willdetermine the date and content of theconference.

CDF has supported research anddevelopment of home care cooperativesfor more than a decade through theMSC Fund and USDA RuralCooperative Development and SociallyDisadvantaged Group Grants.

Beall resigns as NCBA CEO;Ziewacz iterim leader

Michael Beall resigned in Novemberas the president and CEO of NCBACLUSA. Beall was hired to lead the co-op business organization on Sept. 28,

2012. In a letter to

members, BoardChairmanAndrew Jacobsaid “I havereluctantlyaccepted theresignation ofMichael Beall asCEO/President

of the National Cooperative BusinessAssociation CLUSA International. Inhis three-year tenure as CEO/president,Michael successfully made numerouscontributions to the financial andbusiness operations of NCBA CLUSA.All of us here at NCBA CLUSA join inwishing Michael well in his newposition as senior consultant at CreditUnion Strategic Planning Inc.”

NCBA CLUSA has named JudyZiewacz as interim CEO. Beall hasagreed to assist the organization as aconsultant on an “as-needed” basis.

“I am pleased to once again serveNCBA CLUSA and the broadercooperative community during thistransition period to ensure that theinitiatives and priorities of NCBACLUSA continue uninterrupted,”Ziewacz said. “The work NCBACLUSA is engaged in, bothdomestically and around the world,promotes the resilience of thecooperative business model, and I lookforward to working with our board,leadership team and staff to contributeto the ongoing success of theorganization.”

For more than 35 years, Ziewacz haschampioned cooperative development.In 1985, she was instrumental inlaunching the nation’s first statewideco-op development center: theWisconsin Cooperative DevelopmentCouncil, now known as CooperativeDevelopment Services. She also playeda key role in establishingCooperationWorks!, a nationalcooperative development networkresponsible for the creation of hundredsof co-ops and thousands of jobs.

For nearly 100 years, NCBACLUSA has sought to advance andprotect cooperative enterprises,highlighting the impact of cooperativesin bettering the lives of individuals andfamilies. In the past 60 years, it hasgrown its international developmentportfolio to more than $45 million ofactive programs in 18 countries.

DFA acquires sole ownership of DariConcepts

Dairy Farmers of America (DFA)announced in November that it wouldacquire 100-percent ownership ofDairiConcepts, the cooperative’s jointventure with Fonterra Co-operativeGroup Ltd. (Fonterra). The twobusinesses have partnered inDairiConcepts as equal owners since2000, when the joint venture wasformed.

DairiConcepts plays a key role inDFA’s strategy to further grow itsingredients division and extend itsglobal marketing outreach, but it wasviewed as a non-core component ofFonterra’s strategy. The decision wasmade by both DFA and Fonterra toconsolidate ownership.

“Our relationship with Fonterraremains strong,” says Rick Smith, DFApresident and CEO. “DairiConceptshas historically generated strong returnsfor our farmer-owners, and we lookforward to continuing to strengthen thebusiness and expand markets for ourmembers’ milk.”

Fonterra will remain a key customer

Judy Ziewacz



TH R E E O U T S TA N D I N G C O O P E R AT I V E L E A D E R S

will receive the cooperative community’s highest honor onMay 4, when they are inducted into the Cooperative Hallof Fame. The inductees are Dennis Bolling, Dennis A.Johnson and Jessica Gordon Nembhard. Thesecooperative leaders will be recognized at the annualCooperative Hall of Fame dinner and induction ceremonyat the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Inconjunction with the ceremony, a public forum oncooperative development and leadership will be held inthe afternoon.

“Induction into the Cooperative Hall of Fame isreserved for those who have made genuinely heroiccontributions to the cooperative community,” says GasperKovach Jr., board chair of the Cooperative DevelopmentFoundation, which administers the Hall of Fame.

n Dennis Bolling — Outgoing president and CEO ofUnited Producers Inc. (UPI), Bolling is a champion of theco-op business model and a visionary cooperative

educator. He spent nearly fourdecades serving the cooperativesector.

Bolling’s co-op career began in1980 at the Louisville Bank ofCooperatives, a predecessor toCoBank. One of his accounts wasProducers Livestock Association,which later became UnitedProducers Inc., an Ohio-basedlivestock marketing, finance andmember services co-op serving

farmers in the Midwest. Bolling helped Producers Livestock emerge from the

economic downturn that plagued the ag sector throughoutmuch of the 1980s. In 1999, he oversaw a series ofmergers that doubled the co-op’s size and expanded itsservices to producers in 10 states. In late 2001, Bollingsteered UPI through a complex, eight-year legal andfinancial labyrinth in the wake of what has been describedas a “ponzi scheme” that left it bankrupt and $80 millionin debt. Under his leadership, UPI not only survived whatwas widely seen as a crippling setback, but its membersemerged protected and its operations undamaged.

Today, UPI is the largest livestock marketingcooperative in the U.S., serving 45,000 members,marketing 3 million head of livestock and recordingannual sales of $1.2 billion last year.

Once UPI was stabilized, Bolling turned his attentionto his lifelong passion: cooperative education anddevelopment. An advocate of strong board governance, hedeveloped a board certification program and used theFarm Credit Services’ leadership modules to provideadvanced governance training to co-op boards. At a timewhen the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives’(NCFC) director education program was on the brink ofdisappearing, Bolling helped reinvent it and ensure itsbroad support.

At CoBank, Bolling led the committee that developedits director education program, writing and presentingmuch of it himself.

Bolling was instrumental in creating numerouscooperative education organizations, including the Centerfor Cooperatives, Business and Community Education andDevelopment at Ohio State University and the MidAmerica Cooperative Council. He serves on the ExecutiveCommittee and as chair of the Education Committee atNCFC, where his goal is to help cooperative directorsunderstand the scope and complexity of their role. Bollingalso chairs the board of the NCFC Foundation, where hehas set fundraising strategies and expanded theorganization’s scope of work.

n Dennis Johnson — is former president and CEO ofthe St. Paul Bank for Cooperatives, an early investorbehind a new generation of Midwestern co-ops in the 80s

and 90s. Also a key figure in thedevelopment of senior housingco-ops, Johnson holds a pivotalplace in cross-sector cooperativehistory.

His career at the St. Paul Bankfor Cooperatives saw him advancefrom credit analyst in 1973 topresident and CEO in 1989, aposition he held until the bankmerged with CoBank in 1999.Early on, Johnson recognized the

integral role the cooperative business model could play inimproving life in rural America. Under his leadership, theSt. Paul Bank became a leader in supporting new ventureco-op formation and finance.

Johnson also oversaw the bank’s most significant changeduring its 55-year history when, in 1989, it transitionedfrom a lender with a four-state charter to one with anational charter under the Agriculture Credit Act of 1987.

2 0 1 6 I N D U C T E E S T O C O O P E R AT I V E H A L L O F F A M E A N N O U N C E D


The expansion enabled the bank to support applicationof the co-op business model to spur rural economicdevelopment.

Working alongside Rod Nilsestuen in the mid-80s,Johnson was an early supporter of a co-op developmentcenter that would provide technical assistance to bothexisting co-ops and startups. He and the St. Paul Bankwere a reliable source of funding for what is todayknown as Cooperative Development Services.

Starting with the Homestead Housing Cooperativeprogram in the 1990s, Johnson has played a leading rolein the senior co-op housing sector. After retiring fromthe St. Paul Bank in 1999, Johnson devoted the next 15years to finding a new approach to developing andfinancing senior housing co-ops.

In 2002, Johnson helped organize the SeniorCooperative Foundation and, in 2006, he joinedCooperative Housing Resources (CHR) as executive vicepresident, strengthening the organization as the nation’sonly lender focused solely on financing senior housingco-ops. Johnson was the lead organizer of the annualSenior Cooperative Housing Conference, for which hecontinues to shape content.

Recognizing the need for members to understand thecooperative model, Johnson created the Senior Co-opHousing Education Program, which has benefited morethan 6,000 member-owners. In 2009, he incorporated apurchasing co-op to leverage the buying power of seniorhousing co-ops.

In 2013, he was a key part of a group that convincedthe U.S. Department of Housing and UrbanDevelopment not to shutter its Minneapolis office.Instead, staff grew from 11 to 50 people, and it continuesto provide services to senior housing co-ops nationally.

As board member and chair of the CooperativeDevelopment Foundation, Johnson served as financechair of the National Rural Development Task Force. Inthat role, he helped secure the congressionalauthorization and appropriations for the USDA RuralCooperative Development Grant (RCDG) program.Today, this program remains the primary source offederal funding for cooperative development.

n Jessica Gordon Nembhard — A cooperativeambassador, economist and community economicdevelopment expert, Gordon Nembhard is author of therecently published book, “Collective Courage: A Historyof African American Cooperative Economic Thoughtand Practice” (Pennsylvania State University Press,2014). The result of 15 years of research, the booksolidifies Gordon Nembhard as a historian ofcooperative empowerment and transformation within

low-income and minority communities. Gordon Nembhard is professor of community justice

and social economic development in the Department ofAfricana Studies at John JayCollege, of the City Universityof New York (CUNY). In theearly 2000s, she was anassistant professor in theAfrican American StudiesDepartment at the Universityof Maryland, College Park, anda co-founder of the DemocracyCollaborative there. She wasalso a founding board memberof the Political Economy

Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts,Amherst.

In 2008-09 she was a visiting scholar at the Centre forthe Study of Cooperatives at the University ofSaskatchewan (Canada) and continues to be an affiliatescholar there. Since 2007, Nembhard has served on theAssociation of Cooperative Educators (ACE) board ofdirectors, where she contributes to research andeducation programs.

Her leadership has helped to position worker co-opsas tools for economic and racial justice in the 21stcentury. She co-founded the U.S. Federation of WorkerCo-ops and helped that organization build lasting tieswith prominent civil rights and cooperative organizations.

She is also a member of the Grassroots EconomicOrganizing Newsletter collective and recently joined theboard of directors of Green Worker Cooperatives. In2001, she received the Cooperative Advocacy andResearch Award from the Eastern Conference forWorkplace Democracy.

She is an integral supporter of the Federation ofSouthern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund, and iscurrently working with a Federation committee to drafta pilot co-op curriculum for Tuskegee University, whichit is hoped will prompt other universities to add co-opsto their business courses.

Gordon Nembhard also worked with the Coalition fora Prosperous Mississippi and is a member of theSouthern Grassroots Economies Project (SGEP), aregional network dedicated to building a robust co-opeconomy in the South among marginalized communities.Gordon Nembhard is president of the board ofdirectors/shared leadership team of OrganizingNeighborhood Equity (ONE) D.C.

For more information about CDF and theCooperative Hall of Fame, visit www.CDF.coop andwww.Heroes.coop .


of DairiConcepts, which will operate asa wholly owned subsidiary of DFA.DairiConcepts is a manufacturer ofcheese, dairy ingredients and dairyflavor systems with eight facilities acrossthe United States. It works withcustomers both in the United Statesand around the world.

In other DFA news, the co-op hasagreed to purchase the Muller QuakerDairy in Batavia, N.Y., from Pepsico.The cooperative says it is exploringseveral milk handling andmanufacturing options for the plant.

The $208 million yogurt plant wasopened in the spring of 2013 with about$14 million in state tax credits as a keyplayer in the yogurt boom that has seenNew York become the top U.S. yogurtproducer because of the boomingGreek yogurt sector.

Partnership to finance resident-owned communities

ROC USA Capital, NationalCooperative Bank (NCB) and MetLifeinsurance company have forged a $40million financing partnership tostructure a groundbreaking firstmortgage acquisition/permanent loanproduct to finance resident-ownedmanufactured home communities(ROCs) at scale. NCB and MetLife willeach invest $15 million, and ROC USACapital $10 million, over two years tofinance ROCs in 20 states.

“We launched ROC USA Capital tobuild a robust national market tofinance the acquisition, long-termownership, operation and improvementof manufactured home communities bythe lower income homeowners who callthese neighborhoods home,” says ROCUSA Capital Managing DirectorMichael Sloss.

Since its inception in 2008, ROCUSA Capital has built a $100 millionportfolio of first mortgage communityacquisition/permanent loans to 42ROCs in 11 states, enabling more than3,400 low- and moderate-incomehomeowners to buy, preserve andimprove their neighborhoods. ROCUSA Capital has carried out this workon a retail basis, partnering with 20

statewide and regional financialinstitutions to deliver this criticalcommunity acquisition/improvementfinancing.

The partnership with NCB andMetLife opens the door for othernational banks, insurance companiesand pension funds to finance resident-owned communities.

This is a key development in ROCUSA LLC’s national strategy toimplement its resident-ownershipmodel at scale. National institutionalinvestors have financed manufacturedhome community (MHC) acquisitionsby commercial owners for years,committing close to $1 billion annuallyin the MHC sector. Bringing suchinstitutional investors to the resident-ownership segment of the MHC sectorwill enable ROC USA Capital to growand diversify its lending and set thestage for developing an active secondarymarket for ROC USA Capital’s loans.

“We’ve been very successful creatingresident ownership opportunities on arelatively small scale, more thandoubling our portfolio to 10,000 homesin eight years,” says Paul Bradley, ROCUSA president. “We built ROC USA to

scale resident ownership and transformcommunities by bringing security andeconomic gain to the often-ignoredhomeowners in the country’s 50,000manufactured home communities. Thisloan product makes ROC USA Capitala more nimble and competitive force inthat field.”

“As a socially responsible,cooperatively owned financialinstitution, National Cooperative Bankis the ideal partner for ROC USA andMetLife to bring affordable housing toresidents across the country,” says AnnFedorchak, managing director at NCB.

“ROC USA’s model of residentownership ties to MetLife’s financialinclusion work supporting skills andfinancial products to manage life’s risksand seizing its opportunities,” saysMatthew Sheedy, director and head ofcommunity investments at MetLife.

ROC USA is a nonprofit socialventure with a national network of eightaffiliates working to make residentownership viable nationwide.

USDA awards $34 million inValue-Added Producer Grants

USDA is investing nearly $34

Residents of Meadow Valley Park, Unadilla, N.Y., celebrate the conversion of their manufacturedhousing community into a resident-owned co-op. Photo courtesy ROC USA


million in Value-Added ProducerGrants (VAPG) to help 258 businessesnationwide. These grants can be used todevelop new agricultural products oradditional markets for existing ones.Military veterans, socially disadvantagedand beginning farmers and ranchers,operators of small- and medium-sizedfamily farms and ranches, and farmerand rancher cooperatives are givenpriority when applying for these grants.

“This funding will enable farmersand ranchers to develop new products,improve the bottom line for theiroperations and help create a robustlocal and regional food system,” saysRural Development Deputy UnderSecretary Vernita F. Dore. “Value-Added Producer Grants provide capitalto enable ag producers to grow theirbusiness through diversification.”

Examples of companies receivingawards include EarthDance, a farm inFerguson, Mo., that also operates anorganic farm school. EarthDance isreceiving a $19,000 grant to conduct afeasibility study and develop a businessplan for marketing organic localproduce.

In Sebastopol, Calif., BohemianCreamery is receiving a $100,000 grantto produce, sell and market goat wheysodas and soft-serve frozen yogurt. InMadison County, Va., North CoveMushroom has been selected for a$250,000 grant that will help thecompany market and process locallyproduced mushrooms into preparedfoods and medicinal products.

Since 2009, USDA has awarded1,115 VAPGs worth $154 million.About 18 percent of the grants and 14percent of total funding has beenawarded to beginning farmers andranchers. During 2015, more than one-third of VAPGs went to farmers andranchers developing products for thelocal foods sector.

USDA Rural Development helped84 agricultural producers carry out localfoods projects in 2014 through almost$8.9 million in VAPG awards. InArizona, North Leupp Family Farmsreceived a $26,000 grant to determinethe feasibility of producing blue

cornmeal from Navajo corn andstarting a mobile market to sellproducts on the Navajo Nation. InGeorgia, the owners of B.J. ReeseOrchards LLC are using a $200,000grant to process their apples into home-made apple pies and other value-addedapple products.

Lamb co-op purchasesColorado plant

Mountain States Lamb Cooperative(MSLC) is purchasing the JBS GreeleyLamb Plant, in Greeley, Colo. All 120JBS workers will continue with theircurrent positions, according to a reportin the Prairie Star.

The co-op has been renting the plantand paying for lamb harvest, so MSLChad no control over that portion of theprocess, Becky Gitthens, the co-op’sdirector of finance and operations, told

the Prairie Star. Owning the plant willprovide producer-members with “moreopportunities for their economicfuture,” Gitthens said, adding that co-op members will now be better able toearn “maximum return on theirinvestment.”

MSLC is the nation’s largest lambproducer cooperative, with 140 sheepproducers-members in 17 states. MSLCmarkets lamb under the labels CedarSprings Natural Lamb and MountainStates Rosen Lamb. The co-op harvests260,000 lambs annually, with producerfamilies raising them eitherconventionally or naturally.

N. Dakota co-ops to merge Members of United Prairie

Cooperative of New Town and DakotaQuality Grain Cooperative of Parshallhave voted to consolidate theiroperations. The new company willbegin operations as United QualityCooperative in April, providing servicesand products for the grain and energyindustries.

United Prairie CEO and GeneralManager John Reese says the two co-ops share a bulk fuel partnership andhave overlapping trade territories, andit made sense to combine.

The new United Quality Co-op willhave more than 6,000 patrons and 170employees. Reese and Dakota QualityGrain General Manager Daryl Stevensboth are retiring, and the search isunderway for a CEO for the new co-op.

Elburn Co-op to merge with CHS

Members of Elburn Cooperative, adiversified agricultural retailer based inSycamore, Ill., have voted to mergewith CHS Inc. With 81 percent ofeligible producers voting, 94 percentcast ballots favoring the merger, whichwill become effective in March, pendingdue diligence by both co-ops andapproval by the CHS board.

“Merging with CHS offers us a morecompetitive size and scale than we'vehad in the past on our own,” says TracyJones, chairman of Elburn Cooperative.“This merger positions us to return the

CCA conference in Omaha, June 4–7

“Get up and GROW in the BigO!” is the theme for the 2016Cooperative CommunicatorsAssociation (CCA) annualCommunications Institute, June4–7 in Omaha, Neb. The CCAconference usually attracts about125 co-op communicators from alltypes of co-ops.

The three-day program willinclude a wide range ofprofessional developmentsessions ranging from hands-onskill building to exploration ofstrategic management issues. Inaddition, CCA will recognize thebest in writing, photography,publications and special projectsduring its annual communicationsawards program.

Program details andregistration materials will soon beavailable at:www.communicators.coop.


greatest value to our patrons and forfuture generations. We look forward toenhancing and building upon thealready strong local cooperativeexpertise available to producers in theregion,” says Lynden Johnson, CHSexecutive vice president. Phil Farrellwill continue to serve as general manager.

Michigan dairy co-ops promote food safety

Michigan Milk ProducersAssociation (MMPA) and ContinentalDairy Facilities LLC hosted 57 foodsafety professionals from around NorthAmerica at a dairy plant food safetyworkshop Oct. 13-14 in Coopersville,Mich. The workshop — designed bythe International Dairy FoodsAssociation and the Innovation Centerfor U.S. Dairy — emphasizes theimportance of strengtheningmanufacturing practices in all dairyprocessing facilities to diminish foodsafety risk and protect the reputation ofthe dairy industry.

“We believe food safety is not a tradesecret, and we openly share our bestpractices for the good of the dairyindustry,” says MMPA GeneralManager Joe Diglio. “This food safetyworkshop is the right forum forcompanies like MMPA to share ourexpertise and to build cooperationamong industry leaders.”

Industry experts taught theparticipants procedures related toachieving and maintaining superiorfood safety standards in their processingplant. The training — one of more than20 workshops held nationwide —involved hands-on activities related tofood safety in dairy plants, with aspecial emphasis on dry powder.

CDI completes Visalia plant expansion

California Dairies Inc. (CDI), thelargest dairy processing cooperative inCalifornia, has commissioned a newevaporator at its Visalia, Calif., plant.The addition of a third evaporator atthe plant moves CDI’s export powderportfolio up the value chain in to higherspecification powders.

The additional evaporator providesCDI the ability to produce low-spore,nonfat dry milk and skim milk powder,in addition to high-heat, heat-stable andlow-spore milk powders. The expansionand enhancement of its assets andproduct offerings not only enables CDIto meet its customer needs for value-added milk powders, but also increasesCDI presence in the globalmarketplace.

“Striving to be a global marketleader that produces the value-addedand specialty dairy products the worldprefers, CDI has positioned itself sothat its assets and its capabilities align toproduce the products the world marketdemands,” says Andrei Mikhalevsky, theco-op president and CEO.

Co-op to build Idaho fertilizer facility

Valley Agronomics LLC plans tobuild a fertilizer distribution and retailcenter on a portion of the former FMC

site west of Pocatello, Idaho. The planis pending an agreement between thePower County Development Authority(PCDA), FMC Corporation and ValleyAgronomics that will allowredevelopment to proceed, according toa report by NPG of Idaho.

The project reflects a capitalinvestment of $12 million and, at fullscale, will employ 60 to 70 people. Theinitial phase of the operation willencompass about five acres with railservice from Union Pacific Railroad. Asecond phase of development willencompass an additional area of 12acres of warehousing and retailoperations.

Valley Agronomics is a partnershipbetween Valley Wide Cooperative andWinField Solutions LLC, a LandO’Lakes company.

Co-op Summit slated for in October in Quebec

The International Summit ofCooperatives will be held Oct. 11-13 inQuebec City, Canada. Theme for theevent is “Cooperatives: The Power toAct.” The summit will show the realimpact of cooperatives and mutuals atthe local, national and internationallevels, and the pivotal role they play inthe key global issues listed in theUnited Nations’ post-2015development agenda.

The program will examine newsocio-economic and geopoliticalrealities around the world and addressthe challenges and opportunities facedby cooperatives and mutuals in aconstantly changing economy. Thesummit will help cooperative leadersidentify actions that could providesolutions to the development issueslisted by the U.N. The program willinclude world-renowned speakers andwill draw on cross-sector studies.

The Summit is the world’s leadingevent for co-op and mutual businessdevelopment, and should be of interestto co-ops of all sizes and types. Theevent is expected to attract more than3,000 participants from 93 countries.For additional information, visit:www.intlsummit.coop. n

ACE-CASCconference in Calgary, June 1–3

“Energizing Communities:Cooperatives NurturingDemocratic Practice!” is thetheme for the combinedconference of the Association ofCooperative Educators (ACE) andthe Canadian Association for theStudies of Cooperation (CASC).The joint conference will be heldJune 1–3 at the University ofCalgary in Alberta, Canada.

This joint cooperativeeducation andresearch conference is part ofthe 2016 Congress of theCanadian Federation of theHumanities and Social Sciences.For more information, contactSarah Pike at [email protected] or(763) 432-2032.


Key help from USDA, VA FAIRSHeatwole received key assistance

from the Virginia Foundation forAgriculture, Innovation and RuralSustainability (VA FAIRS) and USDA’sValue-Added Producer Grant (VAPG)program.

Agricultural development is closelytied with rural community growth. As arural development center that workswith cooperatives, other producergroups and rural businesses to supportagricultural and rural initiatives, VAFAIRS was in an excellent position tohelp Heatwole realize his dream. Theproject has brought local producergroups and consumers together topromote community growth and tostrengthen ties between residents andagriculture.

The VAPG funding from USDARural Development helped pay for abusiness plan. With that in hand,Shenandoah Processing was soonlooking for a plant location and thenecessary equipment to begin operations.

A building in Harrisonburg, in theheart of the state’s Shenandoah Valley,was chosen for the plant. It hadpreviously been owned by a commercialpoultry operation, and it took only afew months to renovate the buildingand bring it up to meet USDAstandards, with operations beginning in2013. Its central location inHarrisonburg is easily accessible to anumber of large and small farmers.

As Shenandoah’s business has grown,it has added many new customers,including local and regional grocerystores. Receiving USDA’s Organic andCertified Humane certifications hashelped increase demand for its products.

The Harrisonburg area is designatedas a food desert, based on the numberof people with low incomes and theirlack of access to fresh, local foods.Shenandoah Processing’s efforts tobring accessible, organic poultry to thecommunity is helping to improve thatpicture.

Opening new markets for small growers

Shenandoah Processing’s growth hashad a significant impact on producers in

the area. It currently processes flocksfrom 30 farms in Virginia and WestVirginia, enabling producers —especially organic and small-scalegrowers — to reach larger markets thanthey could on their own. The businessalso has a strong focus on farmereducation and is helping new farmersget started.

It holds monthly luncheons for itsfarmers, during which changes in foodregulations and policy changes arediscussed, along with general businessupdates. The Virginia Small FarmOutreach Program has visited thefacility, bringing almost 50 programmembers, including economicdevelopment program directors andextension agents, to tour Shenandoah’sprocessing operations and member farms.

The positive economic impact of theoperation has been felt not only amongfarmers, but also in the community atlarge. The processing facility is creditedfor helping to create more than 200jobs to date. With more local producersgetting their products in stores andmore local people finding employment,Shenandoah Processing isaccomplishing its mission. n

• Model Benefit CorporationLegislation

• Dodge v. Ford Motor Co., 204 Mich.459, 507, 170 N.W. 668, 684 (1919).

• eBay Domestic Holdings, Inc. v.Newmark, 16 A. 3d 1 (Del. Ch.2010).

• Enterra Corp. v. SGS Associates, 600F. Supp. 678, 686 (E.D.Pa.1985).

• Aronson v. Lewis, 473 A.2d 805, (Del.1984).

• Unocal Corp. v. Mesa Petroleum Co.,493 A.2d 946 (Del. 1985).

• Revlon, Inc. v. MacAndrews & ForbesHoldings, Inc., 506 A.2d 173 (Del.1986).

• In re. The Topps CompanyShareholders Litigation, 926 A.2d 58

(Del. Ch. 2007).• White Paper: The Need and

Rationale for the BenefitCorporation: Why It Is the LegalForm That Best Addresses the Needsof Social Entrepreneurs, Investors,and, Ultimately, the Public.

• Eric W. Orts, Beyond Shareholders:Interpreting Corporate ConstituencyStatutes, 61 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 14(1992).

Legal Cornercontinued from page 29

New poultry processing plantcontinued from page 13

prisoners, as well as creative businessdevelopers, academics and professionalswith the ability to provide socialsupports to the members, she adds.

It is also critical to repeal laws thatprevent prisoner cooperatives fromforming. In Puerto Rico, lawsobstructed prisoners’ attempts to form acooperative, and ex-prisoners are notallowed to form a cooperative becausethey are prohibited from fraternizing.

Further study of the application ofthe cooperative model for prisoners and

ex-prisoners and a commitment torehabilitation could make a differencefor the 2.2 million people currently inU.S. prisons, not to mention the 9million incarcerated worldwide.

Sources for this article are availableon request from the author:[email protected], [email protected].. n

From Bars to Freedomcontinued from page 18


Now available from

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A companionship volume to Co-ops 101, thisis an educational guide that teaches furtherbasic information about cooperatives. Itexplains what cooperatives are, includingtheir organizational and structural traits. Itexamines co-op business principles and theresponsibilities and roles of cooperativemembers, directors, managers andemployees.

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This long-time favorite has been freshenedwith updated editorial content and a newdesign. This guide outlines the process oforganizing a cooperative business,including the necessary steps involved intaking the co-op from idea to launching pad.

The Role of Food Hubs in Local Food Marketing (SR-73)

Consumers are willing to pay a premium forlocally-produced foods. But producers areoften handicapped by the lack of a locallybased distribution system. The food hub isone collaborative distribution system forlocal and regional food that shows greatpromise. This report presents an overviewof the myriad issues facing food hubsacross the United States.

Cooperative Statistics 2014 (SR-78)

Provides a vital window on the agriculturalcooperative economy, based on a survey of2,186 U.S. farmer, rancher and fisherycooperatives during calendar year 2014. Itshows another record year for ag co-opbusiness volume and net income (beforetaxes). It also includes a wealth ofinformation about financial ratios and otherperformance data that co-ops can use as ayardstick to examine their ownperformance.

Performance of the Top 18 Dairy Co-ops, 1992-2012 (RR 232)

The equity retained by dairy cooperativesrepresents a substantial sum of themembers’ money and competes with thecapital needed for financing their farmoperations. That’s why good financialperformance is vital to the well-being ofdairy co-op members. Learn how well thelargest U.S. dairy cooperatives are doing.

USDATo order: USDA co-op publicationsare free, and available both in hardcopy and on the Internet, unless “Webonly” is indicated.

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These collected articles, written by USDAag economist Charles Ling, were originallyprinted in Rural Cooperatives magazine toexamine the nature of cooperatives andtheir place in our free-market economy.Now expanded to 10 articles from theoriginal 5. Especially suited to college-levelcourses that examine the cooperativebusiness model.

Nominating Electing and Compen-satingCooperatives Directors (CIR 63)

This report examines the various methodsco-ops use for nominating boardcandidates, voting policies andcompensation practices for co-op directors.It also includes a look at the types ofleadership skills needed by co-op boardmembers. This collection of articles byUSDA economist Bruce Reynolds originallyappeared in USDA’s Rural Cooperativesmagazine.

Member Satisfaction with TheirCooperatives (RR 229) (Web Only)

Dairy cooperatives have adopted a widerange of organizational structures. In somecases, this resulted in fairly bureaucratic,complex business organizations that requirehigh levels of management expertise. Thisstudy looks at how such organizationaffects the satisfaction members have withtheir cooperatives.

Comparing Cooperative Principles of theU.S. Department of Agriculture and theInternational Cooperative Alliance (RR 231)(Web Only)

The cooperative principles of the U.S.Department of Agriculture and those of theInternational Cooperative Alliance (ICA)have evolved in slightly different directionssince the drafting of the Rochedalestatement of 1860. This report compares thetwo sets of cooperative principles, includinghow they distinguish that form oforganization from other forms of business.

Running a Food Hub. Volume I:Lessons Learned From the Field (SR 77)

This report is part of multi-volume, technicalreport series: Running a Food Hub. This firstvolume compiles a number of best businesspractices for starting or expanding a foodhub enterprise. It includes operationalprofiles of the food hubs profiled in thereport.

Running a Food Hub. Volume II: A Business Operations Guide (SR 77)

The report’s main focus is on theoperational issues faced by food hubs,including choosing a location, deciding oninfrastructure and equipment, logistics andtransportation, human resources and risk. Itexplores the different decision pointsassociated with the organizational steps forstarting and implementing a food hub.

For hard copies: Please include thepublication title and number, as well asthe quantity needed. Send e-mail to:[email protected], or call (202)720-7395.

Send mail requests to: USDA Co-opInfo., Stop 3254, 1400 IndependenceAve. SW, Washington, D.C. 20250.

To download from the Web: Visitwww.rd.usda.gov/publications/publications-cooperatives.

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