A Reference for Individuals and Groups Forming and Sustaining Cooperative Businesses
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MIDATLANTIC GUIDE TO COOPERATIVE DEVELOPMENT RESOURCES February 2008 A Reference for Individuals and Groups Forming A and Sustaining Cooperative Businesses Pennsylvania Guide to Cooperative Development Resources A Reference for Individuals and Groups Engaged in Forming and Sustaining Cooperatives Developed and Published by: The Keystone Development Center 200 Trinity Road York, PA 17404 Telephone: 717-792-2163 Fax: 717-792-2573 Website: www.kdc.coop Authors: Cathy Smith and Tanya Turner Keystone Staff: Cathy Smith, Ph.D. Executive Director [email protected] 814-687-4937 (O) 814-687-4127 (F) P.O. Box 4 Flinton, PA 16640 Judi Miller Financial and Administrative [email protected] 717-792-2163 (T) 717-792-2573 (F) 200 Trinity Road, York, PA 17404 We gratefully acknowledge funding from both the United States Department of Agriculture (Rural Cooperative Development Grant) and the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture to support the development, publishing, and distribution of this guide. Names and organizations listed in this manual are for reference purposes only and do not constitute a recommendation or validation of expertise. Even though every effort was made to include all resources available, there may be individuals and organizations with cooperative expertise not listed. Keystone Development Center 2 February, 2008 Keystone Development Center Consultants The following consultants have our recommendation: Anthony Adonizio/Attorney at law Anthony Adonizio is an experienced Attorney at Law and has a deep background in cooperative law. Office: Camp Hill, PA. Telephone: 717-730-2052. Email: [email protected]. Joe Dudick/Development Specialist Joe Dudick is an experienced cooperative developer who can provide director education, feasibility studies, due diligence processes and general organizational development for groups who are forming or have formed cooperatives. Office: Harrisburg, PA. Telephone: 717-234-9850. Fax: 717-234-9851. Email: [email protected] Peggy Fogarty-Harnish/Development Specialist Peggy Fogarty-Harnish is an experienced developer who can provide director education, feasibility studies, due diligence processes and general organizational development for groups who are forming or have formed cooperatives. Office: Ephrata, PA. Telephone: 717-733-3202. Email: [email protected]. Chris Paige/Website and Business Developer Chris Paige is an experienced website and business developer with a specialty in developing on-line ordering/inventory systems. Office: Philadelphia , PA. Telephone: 215-840-2858. Email: chris@ready-set- go.biz. Lisa Stolarski/Development Specialist Lisa Stolarski is an experienced developer who can provide organizational development, conflict resolution, board development, member education, strategies for democratic workplaces and mediation services. Office: Pittsburgh, PA. Telephone: 412-969-7896. Email: [email protected]. Tanya Turner/ Development Specialist Tanya Turner is an experienced cooperative developer who can provide director education, feasibility studies, business plan development, conflict resolution, mediation and general organizational development of groups who are forming or have formed cooperatives. Office: Slippery Rock, PA. Telephone: 724-794-1866 (T & F). Email: [email protected] KDC provides some services for free -- to qualified recipients. We also provide technical assistance on a fee-for-service basis to rural and urban groups. Our rates are reasonable and we offer discounts to nonprofit and start-up groups. Services include the following: 1. Feasibility Studies-including the development of pro forma financial statements. 2. Business Plans- full service business planning including financial analysis and market research. 3. Research Services- primary data can be gathered through on-line and mail surveys, focus groups or key informant interviews. Secondary data gathered through the U.S. Census Bureau, Securities and Exchange Commission, USDA and other publicly available sources. 4. Organizational Development- by-law development, strategic planning, conflict resolution and Director/Board education. Please contact Cathy Smith at 814-687-4937 or at [email protected] for more information. Keystone Development Center 3 February, 2008 I. RESOURCES AT A GLANCE Section Content Page I. Quick Guide to Resources 2 II. Introduction, Overview, Glossary 3 III. Cooperative Development Sequence of Events 7 IV. Frequently Asked Questions 9 V. General Sources for Cooperative Information 11 VI. Pennsylvania – Resources 13 Cooperative Business Assistance, Business Registration & Filings, Agriculture Business Assistance, University & Extension, Economic Development & Business, Small Business Development, Credit & Lending, Examples of PA Cooperatives VII. New Jersey -- Resources 21 Cooperative Business Assistance, Business Registration & Filings, Agriculture Business Assistance, University & Extension, Economic Development & Business, Small Business Development, Credit & Lending, Examples of PA Cooperatives VIII. Maryland -- Resources 26 Cooperative Business Assistance, Business Registration & Filings, Agriculture Business Assistance, University & Extension, Economic Development & Business, Small Business Development, Credit & Lending, Examples of PA Cooperatives IX. Delaware -- Resources 33 Cooperative Business Assistance, Business Registration & Filings, Agriculture Business Assistance, University & Extension, Economic Development & Business, Small Business Development, Credit & Lending, Examples of PA Cooperatives X. Cooperative Guides, Videos, Books 39 XI. Helpful Websites 42 XII. Resources by Cooperative Type 44 Agricultural, Credit Unions, Educational, Employee-Owned and Worker, Energy and Utility, Food and Consumer, Health Care, Housing, and Purchasing XIII. Resources by Topic 52 Market/Feasibility Studies, Grants/Loans, Legal, Management Issues, Market and Feasibility Studies, Marketing/Promotion, Taxation, Financial Management, Education/Training, Business/Strategic Planning, Website Design and Support. XIV. Network of Centers for Cooperative Development 59 About the Keystone Development Center 61 Index 62 Keystone Development Center 4 February, 2008 II. INTRODUCTION, OVERVIEW, AND GLOSSARY Introduction Welcome to the Mid-Atlantic Guide to Cooperative Development Resources. This is a “where to go” guide to help those who want to form a new or sustain an existing cooperative in the Mid-Atlantic region. Resources and expertise available for the region are organized into an easy to use format. Every effort has been made to provide a complete and up-to-date listing of cooperative development resources. Any omissions are unintentional, as every attempt was made to identify all pertinent resources. What is a Cooperative? A cooperative is a group business and is generally distinguished from other types of businesses by its governance and profit distribution. Members govern the cooperative, usually through a democratic process. Most cooperatives operate under the one member, one vote rule. The few that do not use this generally operate under governance structures that allow greater representation to those who use the Cooperative’s services more than others. Cooperatives can be contrasted to investor-owned corporations where voting is tied to the number of shares owned. Someone who owns 1,000 shares of Company X will have 10 times more votes than the person who owns 100 shares. Profits generated by the cooperative are returned to the members based upon their use of the cooperative’s services. These profits, when returned to members, are referred to as patronage refunds. A cooperative generally strives to operate at cost so members receive as high an immediate economic return as possible. For example, a cooperative whose business is to buy bulk ingredients for its bakery members would re-sell product to the member bakeries as close to cost as possible. At the end of the fiscal year if any income remains after paying all the expenses, this would be returned to the member bakeries according to how much they used the cooperative. If there was $10,000 left over after expenses, Bakery A that bought twice as much flour, sugar, etc. from the cooperative as Bakery B would receive two times more patronage income. In most other ways, cooperatives resemble other businesses. They have similar physical facilities, perform the same functions and must follow sound business practices. Often cooperatives are incorporated under state law. Cooperatives do differ from other business forms in that there is a set of operating principles, known as the Rochdale Principles that provide a philosophical foundation for the business. The Rochdale Principles are named after a town in England where a group in the early 1800’s organized a consumer cooperative and distilled their philosophy into a set of 10 principles. These include democratic control, net margins distributed according to patronage, and membership education. Recipe for Failure: Often people assume that a cooperative is just like any other business and is formed by following the same process used to form an investor-owned business. A cooperative should be formed out of a shared conviction and need that it is an appropriate form of business for its members. A decision to form a cooperative can also be opportunistic with an absence of conviction. An example of this is when a dominant individual persuades a group to accept the cooperative model. Their acceptance is because of their deferral to the individual and not because of their understanding of and support