Cooperatives

SUPPORT ORGANIZATIONS

Cooperative Development Services
www.cdsus.coop
A non-profit organization founded in 1985, Cooperative Development Services has provided consulting services for over 500 cooperatives in a number of sectors, including food co-ops, senior housing co-ops, forestry co-ops, and value-added agriculture.

Credit Union National Association
www.cuna.coop
Credit Union National Association is the national trade association of credit unions. In cooperation with state credit union leagues, CUNA provides research, advocacy, education, and business development services to member credit unions.

Federation of Southern Cooperatives
www.federation.coop
Founded in 1967, the Federation of Southern Cooperatives has provided self-help economic opportunities for many low-income communities across the South. A primary objective of the Federation is the retention of black owned land and the use of cooperatives for land-based economic development.

National Association of Federal Credit Unions
www.nafcunet.org
Founded in 1967, the National Association of Federal Credit Unions is a trade association that represents the interests of federal credit unions before the federal government and the public.

National Association of Housing Cooperatives
www.coophousing.org
The National Association of Housing Cooperatives is a nonprofit national federation of housing cooperatives, mutual housing associations, member associations, other resident-owned or controlled housing organizations, professionals, and individuals interested in promoting the interests of cooperative housing communities.

National Cooperative Bank
www.ncb.coop
The National Cooperative Bank provides financial services to cooperative organizations and other community development groups. Services offered include real estate, small business, and commercial lending programs as well as a variety of community development services.

National Cooperative Business Association, www.ncba.coop The National Cooperative Business Association is a trade association that represents cooperatives in a wide variety of fields, including agricultural cooperatives, credit unions, food co-ops, purchasing co-ops, worker co-ops, and others.

National Rural Electric Cooperatives Association
www.nreca.coop
The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association is a national trade association of 900 member cooperatives that serve 37 million people in 47 states. The association represents members in regulatory hearings, as well as providing research, training, education, and advocacy services.

National Cooperative Grocers Association
www.ncga.coop
The National Cooperative Grocers’ Association is the largest trade association of retail food cooperatives with 94 member co-ops with 400,000 member-owners in 31 states. Founded in 1999, the association aims to develop joint purchasing, marketing, and other mutual support activities.

National Telecommunications Cooperative Association
www.ntca.org
The National Telecommunications Cooperative Association is a national trade association representing more than 550 local telecommunications companies throughout rural America, including both cooperatives and small, independently owned companies.

Network of Bay Area Worker Cooperatives (NOBAWC)
www.nobawc.org
The Network of Bay Area Worker Cooperatives is dedicated to building workplace democracy in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. The group provides support for its worker cooperative members as well as assistance with the development of new worker cooperatives.

North American Students of Cooperation
www.nasco.coop
Founded in 1968, the North American Students of Cooperation is a trade association of U.S. and Canadian-based campus and community cooperatives, providing education, training, and technical assistance to member cooperatives.

*NEW*
Northwest Cooperative Development Center
www.nwcdc.coop
The Northwest Cooperative Development Center is a nonprofit organization devoted to assisting new and existing cooperative businesses, from daycare centers to credit unions. The group’s mission is to foster community economic development, primarily through the cooperative business model. It provides a range of business planning and cooperative education services.

Ourbiz
www.ourbiz.biz
This website, founded in May 2005 by the Southern Appalachian Center for Cooperative Ownership (SACCO) provides a national worker cooperative forum for information sharing and discussion.

Resident Owned Communities USA (ROC USA)
www.rocusa.org
Following in the footsteps of the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund, ROC USA aims to develop a national network of technical assistance providers to enable mobile home residents to convert their manufactured home communities into cooperatives, thereby enabling residents to build wealth through collective ownership of the manufactured housing park’s land. As of December 2006, in New Hampshire where the model was first developed, 82 member cooperatives controlled 17 percent of that state’s total manufactured housing market.

U.S. Federation of Democratic Workplaces and Worker Cooperatives
www.usworkercoop.org
The U.S. Federation of Democratic Workplaces is a newly formed (May 2004) national trade association of worker cooperatives and other employee-owned, democratically run workplaces. The federation aims to provide education, training, and technical assistance to its members.