HURON — Traditionally, when cooperatives come to mind most people think agriculture.
For Bailey Miles and other students attending the College Conference on Cooperatives (CCOC) in Minneapolis that is far from the case.
“This conference reminded me that cooperatives have so much variety and serve so many different purposes,” says Miles, who is pursuing a commodity merchandising degree from Lake Area Technical Institute.
Hosted by National Farmers Union, the three-day seminar works to accomplish just that.
“Cooperatives play an important role in strengthening rural and urban economies and communities across the country. NFU’s CCOC engages tomorrow’s agricultural leaders in applying cooperative business principles and learning about opportunities available to them through the cooperative model,” says NFU President Roger Johnson.
Throughout the conference, students toured a number of cooperatives and heard from representatives and farmers from traditional and value-added agricultural cooperatives, housing and worker-owned co-ops, and consumer cooperatives.
They also gained insight into cooperative development, as well as the challenges facing the industry from current cooperative leaders, farmers and members.
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