UW Center for Co-ops: working together … then and now

Rural Cooperatives, May-June, 2004 by Ashwin Rao

The University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives (UWCC) was established in 1962 to provide co-op training, assistance and education programs to international and domestic cooperatives, and to conduct research directed at all aspects of a cooperative business. Decades later, the Center continues to promote and research cooperative action as a means of meeting the economic and social needs of people.

So what has changed?

"While the Center's core mission has not changed, the focus of our work has definitely shifted," explains Bob Cropp, professor emeritus and former director of the Center. Adds Interim Director Anne Reynolds, "We are doing more work with a wider variety of co-ops," a reference to the broad client base that the Center interacts with, which has expanded over the past few years to now include forestry, utilities, health care, housing, food and worker co-ops, among others. For others at the Center, the shift has been in gaining a "deeper understanding of the issues" in our society and "achieving greater impact through a broader range of contacts" within our community.

The research arm of the Center remains as robust as ever. Assistant Professor and Senior Faculty' Associate Kim Zeuli joined the Center in 2001 to strengthen research in the areas of agricultural co-ops and co-ops in rural communities. "There has always been a lot of emphasis on research, and it continues to remain a strong and critical part of the organization," says Zeuli.

The shift in focus, however, has affected much of what the Center does on a regular basis. The educational workshops that UWCC organizes, in partnership with the Wisconsin Federation of Cooperatives and the Minnesota Association of Cooperatives, have seen a progression toward topics on joint ventures, mergers/acquisitions, alternative co-op structures and resulting financial implications.

"The focus on such topics reflects the changing needs of our clients," says Cropp. "As University of Wisconsin-Extension state specialists, we need to be flexible and be able to respond to their [clients'] needs." Annual conferences such as the Farmer Cooperatives Conference, started a few years ago by the Center, stimulate critical thinking on how cooperatives need to address major issues as well as engage researchers and co-op leaders in a dialogue about best practices and future trends impacting agricultural cooperatives.

The response to changing trends is, perhaps, more clearly reflected in the Center's initiatives to extend its services beyond the university. A website (www.wisc.edu/uwcc) offering extensive information and resource links has resulted in increased visibility for the (]enter, expanding its reach beyond the physical borders of the state of Wisconsin. The availability of funds and a heightened interest in rural development start-ups and cooperatives have also helped position the Center as a resource for cooperative development in the areas of agriculture, housing, healthcare delivery and emerging markets, such as organic foods.

The ever-increasing demand for value-added agriculture, along with the continuing strength of the co-op movement and new opportunities in cooperative development ensures that the Center's efforts to promote co-op education and research will continue for some time to come.

"The Center plans to continue to partner with co-op leaders, educators and researchers, and use these partnerships to enhance the work that we do for co-ops," says Reynolds.

Contact information: website: www.wisc.edu/uwcc; phone: (608) 262-3382; address: 230 Taylor Hall, 427 Lorch St., Madison, Wis. 53706. Officers: interim Director: Anne Reynolds; Senior Faculty Associate/ Center for Co-ops: Kim Zeuli.

Ashwini Rao, Associate Outreach Specialist UW Center for Cooperatives