U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Https

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock () or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Interagency Working Group on Cooperative Development

What resilient economic engine creates market opportunities, helps underrepresented people, keeps profits in the local community, and fights climate change? The cooperative!

In a cooperative, people with a common interest pool their funds and create a business that they own, control democratically, and benefit from financially based on how much they patronize (or use) the cooperative.

Cooperatives can address community needs, focus on a broad range of purposes beyond profits, raise wages, and operate in almost every industry. They provide electricity, broadband, rural groceries, child care, home care, financial services, housing, and operate in the supply chain, agriculture, and education. Cooperatives address market gaps by providing essential goods and services. They can also preserve local jobs when a retiring business owner converts the business to a worker cooperative.

The 2014 Farm Bill authorized the Agriculture Secretary to “chair an interagency working group to foster cooperative development and ensure coordination with federal agencies andcooperative organizations….” 7 U.S.C. section 1932(e)(12.

View 2024 Interagency Meetings on 98+ year of Cooperative Statistics Mapping Economic Resiliency and exploring new Horizons, Equitable GovernanceCooperatives After Incarceration 

View 2023 Interagency meetings of the Housing Committee, the Food Committee, the Child Care Committee, the Real Estate Committee and the Equitable Ecosystem Committee

View 2022 meetings of the of Care Committee, the Food Committee, the Environment Committee, and the Conversions Committee.

Success Stories

Two men stand next to a green sign that says Plateau

Rural Development Grant Helps ReConnect Rural New Mexicans

Over seventy-five years ago, a group of rural New Mexicans banded together to create Eastern New Mexico Rural Telephone Cooperative. The group wanted to provide telephone service to rural eastern New... Read More
tri county prez

Harvesting Connections: USDA & Tri-County Co-Op

A few miles off the interstate, tucked in the middle of the state in Hightstown, New Jersey, the Tri-County Co-op Auction & Market stands as a daily testament to community spirit and agricultural... Read More
Poultry house interior and vacant Tyson Foods lot.

Exploring FAIR Markets for Virginia Agricultural Products Through Cooperatives

Successful partnerships can be found in just about every industry, but the ones that support agriculture are a unique breed because they ultimately benefit everyone in rural communities. In Virginia,... Read More
View all Success Stories

Contact

For questions or comments please contact: coopinfo@usda.gov.

Body