October 16-22 is "Co-op Week" in MN!

Secretary of State Mark Ritchie Recognizes "Co-op Week" by Announcing that Minnesota is Ranked Number One in Cooperative Businesses in the Nation!

St. Paul, Minn.-October 20, 2011-Secretary of State Mark Ritchie today recognized "Co-op Week" which is observed the week of October 16-22 by announcing that Minnesota is home to more cooperative businesses than any other state and several of the nation's largest co-ops are headquartered here.
"Minnesota ranks number one in sheer numbers of cooperatives and our residents enjoy the tremendous benefit co-ops bring," Ritchie said. "Our state's co-ops generate more than $34 billion in revenue and provide good jobs for 46,000 Minnesota residents."

Owned and governed by their members, co-ops provide products and services as close as possible to actual cost, with profit margins plowed back into the business or returned to the members. Many individuals are members of more than one co-op.

Nearly 1,000 cooperative businesses serve approximately 3.4 million members in Minnesota. These co-ops provide goods and services ranging from farm supplies and farm credit, to electricity, petroleum products, grain marketing, dairy products and processing, housing, health care, telecommunications, ethanol and sugar production, credit unions, and food co-ops.

"October is traditionally designated as the month to honor co-ops and the contribution they make to stronger communities and it's fitting that the tradition began right here in Minnesota," said Cooperative Network President and CEO Bill Oemichen. "The tradition of celebrating Co-op Month has deep roots in Minnesota. While the idea of celebrating the special nature of cooperatives first appeared in 1924 in Waukegan, Illinois, it was former Minnesota Governor Luther Youngdahl who signed the first official Minnesota October Co-op Month proclamation in 1948, at the request of the Minnesota Association of Cooperatives (now Cooperative Network)."
NCB Financial Group, parent of the National Consumer Cooperative Bank, this week published its annual report detailing the top 100 co-ops in the nation and their contribution to the economy. Four Minnesota-based cooperatives were among the top two revenue producers by business sector in the NCB survey for 2010.

• CHS Inc., based in St. Paul, was in first place on the NCB Top 100 list, with $25.3 billion in revenues for 2010.

• Land O'Lakes, Inc., also based in St. Paul, came in second with revenues of $11.1 billion.

• Agribank, FSB, also in St. Paul, placed eighth nationwide with $4 billion in revenues.

• HealthPartners, Inc., headquartered in South Bloomington, was in 10th place with 2010 revenues of $3.6 billion.

"Large or small, urban or rural, the key concept of a cooperative business is friends, neighbors and fellow members delivering value for each other and their communities," explained Ritchie.