Thanks to a grant from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s Regional Food Systems Infrastructure program, the team at CDS is excited to introduce a two-part training series for startup producer co-ops.
Our winter series, beginning next month, will focus on the cooperative business model and the formation and governance of early-stage cooperatives, while the fall series will dive into technical aspects of accounting, financial management, legal issues, and capitalization.
Although particularly suited for emerging co-ops, the program will also be informative and useful to directors and managers of new co-ops already in operation. In addition to instructor-led training, participants will have a chance to meet and learn from peer co-ops throughout the series.
This Winter 2025 series will take place on five consecutive Wednesdays, beginning February 19th through March 19th, from 6:00p-7:30p via Zoom.
You can find full session descriptions for the winter series here.
There is no cost to attend. We are encouraging co-ops to send multiple participants and to commit to in-person attendance for the best experience. Recordings of sessions will be made available for registered attendees.
The RFSI program supports start-up producer co-ops focused on the processing, manufacturing, wholesaling, and distribution of locally and regionally produced food products for human consumption, excluding meat and poultry. Co-ops not otherwise eligible for RFSI support are welcome to attend the training.
Please email Leslie Watson with any questions, and feel free to share with any startup producer co-ops that you may be working with.