People

“Cooperatives are unique – they are people working together to obtain those goals they could not achieve individually. For a cooperative to ‘go and grow’ members must: need it, want it, understand it, use it, finance it, and work at it.”

 

Dr. Charles Ingraham, Extension Economist and cooperative expert with Ohio State, shared this idea in a 1973 speech to the American Institute of Cooperation’s Graduate and Collegiate Seminar. The idea that cooperatives are people-focused businesses remains true today.

Read Dr. Ingraham’s 1973 speech, “How People Make Their Cooperative Go & Grow,” along with a foreword and thoughts from Ohio cooperative leaders shared 50 years later here.

An illustration of five raised hands in multiple earth tones.

The core stakeholders who make up a cooperative business include the members, directors, management, and employees. Each group has unique roles and responsibilities.

  • Members – Members are the owners and primary users of a cooperative enterprise. They help to finance and hold the equity of the business. Members elect the board of directors and make other decisions in their cooperative.
  • Directors – Directors are elected from and by the members of the cooperative to lead the business, providing key oversight and decision-making in major areas like hiring and supervising the manager, assessing the cooperative’s performance, and ensuring the financial health of the co-op, among other responsibilities.
  • Management & Employees – A hired manager and employees often carry-out the day-to-day operations in a mature cooperative. The manager reports to the board of directors and ensures the cooperative is working toward meeting its goals. The work of employees in a cooperative is as unique and varied as cooperatives themselves.

References

  • Co-op Essentials: What They Are and the Role of Members, Directors, Managers, and Employees.” (n.d.) U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Business – Cooperative Service, Cooperative Information Report 11. http://www.rd.usda.gov/files/publications/CIR%2011%20%20Co-op%20Essentials.pdf
  • Ingraham, C. (1973). “How People Make Their Cooperative Go & Grow.” [Written speech.] Graduate and Collegiate Seminar, American Institute of Cooperation, New Orleans, LA.