CDS goes into the new year with much to celebrate and build on!

I wrote last month’s column with a mere three weeks under my belt as the new executive director. Now a seasoned veteran, I’m primed and excited to share with you some of CDS’s accomplishments in 2024 (while unapologetically cribbing from Kevin Edberg’s excellent final report on the matter). In the last fiscal year, our good work encompassed:

• Engaging tangibly with 172 co-ops, 4 unincorporated startups, and 10 non-co-op businesses (primarily businesses exploring conversions), including support for three new cooperative incorporations.
• Serving a wide range of co-ops across rural, urban, and tribal communities of the Upper Midwest, including worker-owned businesses, agricultural and forestry co-ops, community owned grocery stores, and housing co-ops.
• Expanding our support of the senior housing cooperative community through educational programs and our annual conference, which included 400 attendees from 90 co-ops.
• Supporting access to capital for startup food co-ops through our fiscal sponsorship program, which managed $1.4 million in grants and charitable gifts.
• And closing the year, as ever, with a squeaky clean audit.

The CDS board received a complete year-end report at its board meeting earlier this month, which also featured a key transition within the board itself. Amid gratitude and well-deserved accolades for her steady leadership over the years, Alison Deelstra concluded her longtime tenure as Board Chair and the board welcomed Marty Walsh of People’s Energy Cooperative as her successor.

Jen McCubbin of CHS Capital succeeded Marty as Treasurer, while Collie Graddick of Community Table Cooperative and Amy Fields of National Co+op Grocers remained in service as Vice Chair and Secretary, respectively. Finally, the board paid homage to Dave Holm of the Iowa Institute for Cooperatives, who attended his last CDS board meeting ahead of his upcoming retirement.

We are enormously grateful to all board members, past and present, who so generously share their time, talents, and insights, and who help to keep CDS rooted and connected to the diversity of sectors within the cooperative community in the Upper Midwest.