CCCD Receives $200,000 to Establish Cooperatives
Agriculture
Secretary Tom Vilsack announced TODAY the selection of 34
organizations for U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA's) Rural Cooperative
Development Grant (RCDG) program grants to help rural cooperatives and small
businesses expand and strengthen their capacity to serve rural citizens and
communities.
The California Center for Cooperative Development (CCCD)
received a $200,000 grant to establish cooperatives. CCCD supports a myriad of
cooperatives in California (agricultural, child care, energy, housing, etc.)
with start-up, management, and other technical assistance.
Agricultural cooperatives, user-owned and user-controlled
businesses, are organized to help farmers gain market power by joining together
to market their crops, increase their bargaining power by achieving economies
of scale, processing their commodity to add value, and/or to purchase supplies
and services. California has approximately 200 agricultural cooperatives and
there are more than 4,000 nationwide.
Agricultural Cooperatives differ from other types of
businesses in that they are owned by farmer-members, democratically controlled,
run by professional management overseen by an elected board of directors,
designed to distribute economic benefits to members on the basis of the
member’s use of the cooperative (e.g. if more product, more economic gain).
Labels: California Center for Cooperative Development (CCCD) received grant, USDA Rural Cooperative Development Grant to establish cooperatives in CA
