CDS tangibly engaged 131 cooperatives, 33 start-ups and 8 agricultural businesses in FY22 from rural and urban communities. Supported incorporation of two new agricultural cooperatives. Helped six co-ops secure $890,000 in public and foundation grant funding. Received over $500,000 in…

November 17th is “Give to the Max Day” (GTMD) in Minnesota. GTMD is a statewide collective effort bringing an outpouring of support for thousands of nonprofits and schools across Minnesota. The mission of the Cooperative Development Fund of CDS is to…

For several years pre-pandemic, Cooperative Development Services (CDS) hosted an annual gathering for leaders of cooperative development organizations, including those who aspire to leadership or who are in process of succession. CDS once again hosted the retreat last week in Livingston,…

I was grateful for the wonderful opportunity to attend the Cooperative IMPACT conference in Washington, D.C. earlier this month.  It is easy to get hyper-focused on an individual co-op and forget about the wider movement, and I have been guilty…

#shopcoop Support small co-op businesses across the country! Purchase products and services for yourself, friends, or family from a worker co-op. Our friends at the United States Federation of Worker Cooperatives have a fantastic webpage featuring a wide range of…

The Perennial Promise Growers Cooperative is a new farmer-owned co-op pioneering the commercialization of Kernza, a new perennial grain crop that can improve water quality. The co-op was recently awarded a $50,000 Matching Equity grant from CoBank; CDS was the…