What it Means to be a Cooperative
August 29, 2009 by Ken
Filed under How to Get Involved
Cooperatives are member-owned, member-governed businesses that operate for the benefit of their members according to common principles agreed upon by the international cooperative community. In co-ops, members pool resources to bring about economic results that are unobtainable by one person alone. Most simply put, a cooperative is a business:
- voluntarily owned by the people who use it, and
- operated for the benefit of its members.
Regardless of the goods and services provided, co-ops aim to meet their members’ needs.
Most of NCGA’s member co-ops are consumer cooperatives, which means that they are owned by the people who shop at the stores. Members exercise their ownership by patronizing the store and voting in elections. The members elect a board of directors to hire, guide and evaluate the general manager who runs day to day operations.
from the NCGA
