Building Economic Democracy with the Cooperative Approach

By Jan Tusick

KUFM Commentary- October 18, 2007

October is a special time of year for many of us with the change in the season and the cooling days. October is also known nationally as “Co-op Month”. Members of cooperatives across the nation are taking this time to promote their co-ops as important tools for providing basic and community services. For most of us our cooperatives bring us services like electricity, telephone and internet connections, banking, and insurance. However there are exciting new cooperatives emerging in western Montana that are facilitating the shift towards localized agriculture, energy independence and economic democracy. This is a time to reflect on how cooperatives enrich our economies and communities. This is also a time to take the initiative to build more cooperatives and to help develop economic democracy for all in Montana.

Economic Democracy- Just what does that mean? The definition can have many applications but to me it means distributing wealth and ownership opportunities to many. We live in an economy defined by a distinct disparity between those enjoying significant wealth and those who are not even able to meet their day to day needs. It is this disparity that is a driving force for me to consider how we can create economic democracy in our communities. Cooperatives can be the very tools communities can use to do this. Cooperatives can create wealth by expanding local ownership and control of businesses and services, and by creating and supporting markets for small scale farmers. Cooperatives operate as democratically controlled businesses, usually with a member-elected board of directors. They work by bringing together a diverse group of people in a common business or civic pursuit. Cooperatives can be very creative and can support multiple objectives.

New models of cooperatives are emerging in response to the needs of our communities and for reasons other than profit sharing or marketing a basic service. For example low income and senior housing cooperatives are emerging across the nation to provide low-cost home ownership to their resident/members and in doing so are instilling a new sense of pride and self reliance in these communities. Gerald Glaser, a gerontologist from the Ebenezer Center for Aging said, "From a gerontological point of view, the essential benefit of the cooperative is that it provides an economic structure and social framework that fosters self-reliance, self-control and determination, interdependence, and cooperation among the resident members.”

In Minnesota, trailer park housing cooperatives have converted blighted areas into desirable living spaces for their residents. By establishing a cooperative to own and manage the trailer park, the resident members have discovered that their trailer court is becoming a better place to live and that they are actually growing equity in their mobile homes. This is a dramatic shift from the normal trailer park situation where renters are burdened by the chance of being booted out when the owner sells the property.

In Montana our agriculture communities are using cooperatives as a tool to create an alternative food system so Montanans can access nutritious local food from within their communities. Through cooperatives such as the Western Montana Growers Cooperative and the Missoula Food Coop, local citizens, farmers, ranchers and educational institutions are creating economic democracy in our state. Western Montana Growers Cooperative is a coalition of farmers and ranchers in the western Montana whose goal is to improve the local food system by enhancing their marketing opportunities. By building a cooperative distribution network for their food products these growers have improved the sustainability of their farms and ranches. The Missoula Food Coop, a consumer cooperative, provides its members with local and nutritious food that is affordable and accessible to low income people. These two cooperatives are working together to build opportunities for local farmers and people who want affordable local food.

250,000 people are served by 26 unique Montana-based electrical co-ops, all of which are governed by member-elected representatives. Established as non-profit entities, these co-ops have the potential to help build meaningful and stable jobs in our state by encouraging a transition to decentralized, Montana-owned renewable energy production. Flathead Electric Cooperative is leading the way with conservation and renewable energy incentives. As a member of Flathead Electric Co-op you can receive a $100 rebate from the co-op for purchasing an Energy Star rated, high efficiency clothes washer. Flathead also offers excellent net-metering rates, which allows small-scale producers of renewable electricity to receive credit for the excess power they put into the electrical grid. Electric cooperative members from around the state could use this example to shift their own co-op’s policies toward true energy independence.

Cooperatives are organized by people like you and me. People who see a need in their lives or their communities and become proactive and organized to create change. That is what cooperatives are all about—creating change and new opportunities that through local ownership can lead to economic democracy and civic activity. Please contact the Mission Mountain Cooperative Development Center in Ronan, MT if you would like more information about starting or getting involved with an existing co-op. Find out more at www.lakecountycdc.org or by calling 676-5901.

I’m Jan Tusick for the Alternative Energy Resources Organization. AERO would appreciate your comments and perspectives. AERO is a grassroots membership organization linking people, sustainable agriculture and energy solutions in communities throughout Montana. For more information call us in Helena at 443-7272 or visit us online at www.aeromt.org.