​KDC is offering a FREE Series of online recorded workshops in 2017. Everyone and anyone interested in learning more about co-ops and co-op development is welcome to attend! All interested clients who are not yet incorporated and/or otherwise operating on a cooperative basis will be asked to attend these workshops as a preliminary step to gaining assistance from a member of our team. If the timeslots available do not work for you please email lori@kdc.coop for other options. 

KDC is a non-profit corporation dedicated to providing technical and research assistance to groups who wish to organize as cooperatives as well as established cooperatives and businesses.  Our experienced team of cooperative and business development specialists can support you and your group from development through to operations.  Through this we meet the economic and business development needs of rural and non-rural areas in the multi-state area of Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey and Delaware. Typically, we support approximately 15 clients each year. For a list of client highlights click here.
 
We are a very small organization with a big impact.  Our board consists leaders from multiple cooperative, economic development, non-profit, government, educational and agricultural organizations.  Click here to see our current board representatives.  

At this phase of our growth we are specifically looking for individuals who will bring at least one of the following skills to our organization: finance, fundraising, marketing, and human resources. Enthusiasm for the mission is a key qualification and we will be especially thrilled with candidates who have board experience and/or experience in local and regional food systems issues.

Board Member Requirements

1. Demonstrate commitment to and understanding of the mission of KDC.
2. Have a passion for or professional experience related to KDC services and organizational management.
3. For example:
   1. Professional experience with the food industry (farming, food service, food processing),
   2. Nonprofit governance, fundraising or financial management, or
   3. For profit business development and financial management.

Board Member Duties

1. Attend 3 regularly scheduled remote board meetings and one in person annual meeting in April in Harrisburg, PA.
2. Assume leadership roles and participate actively on at least one committee or an equivalent function.
3. Review minutes and agenda items in advance of meetings and stay well informed regarding the organization’s fiscal and program work.
4. Participate in decision-making regarding organizational development, policy, and strategy.
5. Listen respectfully to other points of view.
6. Act as an ambassador, actively promoting KDC to the community.
7. Disclose and avoid conflicts of interest.
8. Maintain confidentiality.

If you are interested in adding your hat to the ring, please send me a 1 or 2 paragraph description to jobs (at) kdc (dot) coop of who you are and how your work or interests relates to our mission by April 1, 2016. Thanks much for your consideration. 

​Peggy Fogarty, Executive Director 

Interview with Lori Burge, the new Cooperative Development Facilitator at KDC
We’re proud to introduce a new member of the KDC Team, Lori Burge. She has completed both the Cooperation Works! Cooperative Business Development Training Program and the Democracy At Work Network Peer Advisor Training Program.  Lori brings with her two decades of cooperative business and community organizing experience. She joined our team this month and has already jumped on board with several KDC Clients.
 
KDC: Describe your role and responsibilities at KDC.
LB:  At KDC, I will work with emerging and existing co-ops to provide technical assistance in all areas of cooperative development from start-ups and expansions revising bylaws and adopting policies to developing and strengthening nuts and bolts operational systems. I bring with me a specialty in Urban Co-op Development operating within historically underserved communities. As KDC’s administrative support person, I will be the first person people talk to when they reach out to KDC.
 
KDC:  What attracted you to the cooperative model?
LB: I cut my teeth doing community organizing with environmental, labor, consumer protection, and social justice organizations. After learning extensively about co-ops, I enrolled in a class called Economic Democracy Now! which focused on the co-op model as a viable economic alternative to business as usual and quite possibly, a more just economic system. I was inspired by the Rochdale Pioneers in England, Mondragon in Spain, the Emilia Romanga region in Italy and the Federation of Southern Cooperatives, in Mississippi.
 
I love that co-ops are mission-driven operating from a multiple bottom line approach to achieve sustainable profits, communities and environments.  They serve member-owner and community needs. Co-ops provide communities opportunities to take control of their livelihoods by cultivating leadership in populations which have often been overlooked. I’m privileged to a role in creating positive change impacting people’s lives today, tomorrow, and for generations to come!
 
KDC: What is your background and how did you come to be in your current position?
LB: I’ve been working with co-ops and other democratically controlled entities for the past 20 years, so I’m what you might call “a co-op lifer.”  In 1997, I got my start working in co-ops by volunteering with my housemate in produce department at a nearby community-owned grocery called People’s Food Co-op in Portland.  I held several positions at People’s including Produce Manager, Development Manager and as a member of the  Finance Team. While working at People’s I got deeply involved in the local, regional, and national co-op movement. Assisting neighboring communities to start food co-ops compelled me to enroll in training in Cooperative Development.
 
I served as the first General Manager at New Orleans Food Co-op (NOFC), a start-up co-op in a long-standing underserved area. The community had been working to organize a co-op for 10 years, since before Hurricane Katrina. In my five and a half years there, I learned to navigate the challenges inherent in opening and operating a cooperatively owned and governed grocery in a long-standing food desert.
 
I recently moved to Philadelphia after my partner was offered a position at a Mariposa Food Co-op, bringing us much closer to extended family. I am a longtime colleague of KDC’s Peggy and Jim through Cooperation Works and Democracy at Work Institute. It is a natural fit for me to move into Co-op Development full time! I am so happy to be here!
 
KDC: As you look to the future what do you see as the greatest opportunities and trends for cooperatives?
LB:  If there is an economic need, there is an opportunity. There is no end to the types of services a co-op can provide its member-owners, and its community.
 
In recent years, I have heard more communities working to address food insecurity or other complex social challenges through co-ops. For example, we have seen increased development of social services type co-ops such as Home Health Care cooperatives.  We have seen a noticeable trend of food co-ops opening areas abandoned or avoided by larger grocers. Co-ops open to meet the need against all odds, where it is needed most, is a plight to which I have a deep affinity.
 
We are also seeing the food co-op sector working hard to streamline systems and tighten up margins to compete with the conventional grocers. Co-ops are getting much better talking about our positive impacts, which is heartening. In the 80’s we saw a lot of co-ops buckling under pressure and abandoning the word co-op from their names. Today we celebrate the cooperative difference. Technology allows us to share our metrics, our trends, and our experience with other cooperators in our sectors so we can evolve together, but completely independently.
 
KDC: What do you see as the biggest challenges?
LB: One of the biggest challenges is not heeding to the internal and sometimes external pressure to open shop before completing the necessary steps, creating a clear governance structure and raising adequate initial starting capital. Another challenge in an ever-evolving economy where larger companies are encroaching on niche markets.  By marketing and branding to emphasize a mission and values, co-ops are getting better at communicating the cooperative difference, something social media has helped put within reach on a tighter budget.  I would like to focus on improving analysis, financial projections and business plans to mitigate challenges and improve their likelihood of success.
 
KDC: What keeps you inspired?
LB: I love hearing people’s stories. I am eternally motivated by seeing the cooperative difference as it plays out in communities, and upon individuals lives, both economically and personally by cultivating skills and leadership abilities. Listening to the extraordinary accomplishments ordinary people have been able to achieve through their co-ops is so motivating. What a joy it is to work with so many amazing people committed to strengthening communities using a model we can all say “yes” to!

From cooperative banks, rural electric, purchasing and marketing cooperatives, Pennsylvania farmers have historically depended on the cooperative economy to work together for the benefit of their communities.  Agricultural cooperatives have provided farm families economic sustainability, thereby preserving farming as a viable way of life. 

Keystone Development Center (KDC), a non-profit corporation with a mission to provide technical and research assistance to groups who wish to organize as cooperatives, believe that the cooperative-business model can enable people to mitigate business risk and provide themselves with services at an economic advantage.

KDC will be conducting research on the economic contributions and rural impacts of agriculture cooperatives on preserving working farms in Pennsylvania.  Pennsylvania, through the partnership between all levels of government and non-profit agencies, has shown commitment and leadership nationally in preserving farmland through the easement purchase of more than 4951 farms totaling more than 520,619 acres.  Farm businesses return far more to Pennsylvania’s economy than the Commonwealth invested in the preservation of farmland. 

Combining farmland preservation achievements with efforts to organize and strengthen agricultural cooperatives moves us closer to the goal of growing, maintaining and supporting farmers and working agricultural lands in the Commonwealth. What has never been accounted for is the overall economic impact of cooperatives in Pennsylvania in terms of jobs, wages and salary and total income.

Keystone Development Center is concerned with the holistic reality of the regional economy and the critical contributions of agriculture to regional food security, economic prosperity and environmental sustainability.  KDC has received $20,000 in funding from the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture to support their newest research project. This award was matched with supporting funds from the United States Department of Agriculture’s Rural Cooperative Development Grant which supports KDC’s general operating budget for $200,000.

Many cooperatives work to build and strengthen local and regional food systems by developing capacity along the food chain, building relationships that create mutual benefit between and among cooperatives across sectors and between urban and rural communities.

KDC is excited to further investigate the agricultural co-op sector as part of this year’s Cooperative Census. “We estimate that there are 66 agricultural marketing cooperatives currently operating in Pennsylvania.” states Peggy Fogarty, Executive Director of KDC. “We hope to identify strategies to promote business growth and create conditions that will allow these communities to thrive economically.”

Keystone Development Center’s Cooperative Census presents an excellent opportunity to go beyond the information customarily gathered around size, structure, revenue, etc. of the cooperatives they serve, to dig deeper into the agricultural sector of co-ops, and to engage co-op members - not just organizations. 

KDC plans to interview member producers from key agricultural cooperatives in Pennsylvania. They will identify cooperative member farmers who are farming on preserved land, and conduct in-depth interviews with them, gaining insights and first-person narratives that will illuminate the relationships between the impact of preserving farmland and of agricultural cooperatives in the Commonwealth.

Keystone Development Center’s  census has three key objectives:

1. Develop a Complete Database of Cooperatives
2. Track the Economic Impact of Cooperatives
3. Assess the Current Technical Assistance Needs of Cooperatives
   
   

If you are a part of a Pennsylvania Cooperative and would like to add your organization’s voice, please take the survey found on our website www.KDC.coop

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that USDA is awarding 29 grants totaling $5.8 million to help rural cooperatives create jobs and support business expansion. The funds are provided through the Rural Cooperative Development Grant (RCDG) program, which helps fund non-profit groups, such as rural cooperative development centers & higher education institutions. KDC is the proud recipient of one of these grants and is looking forward to supporting cooperative development through 2017.  Read The Grant Announcement Here!

Want more? Click here to read an article from National Co-op month discussing our award and the work we have done with Tuscarora Organic Growers!

From Left to Right:
​Thomas P. Williams, Pennsylvania State Director, USDA Rural Development
Samuel Rikkers, Administrator, USDA Rural Development Rural Business Cooperative sErvice
Peggy Fogarty, Executive Director, Keystone Development Center
Jim Crawford, Founding Member and Board Member of Tuscarora Organic Growers Cooperative

Yesterday, the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) announced its national award winners for the Best of 2016 in renewable energy and energy efficiency. IREC's 3iAward recipients were honored during an awards ceremony at Solar Power International, at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The winner of the 2016 Community Renewables Project of the Year is the northeast Pennsylvania-based Clean Energy Co-op.

The Clean Energy Cooperative, Inc., a community-owned clean energy co-op, was founded in 2014 with the idea to use local investments to develop renewable energy demonstration projects that provide positive economic returns to its members and community.  

Looking for local non-profits interested in going solar, Honesdale's historic Cooperage stepped forward as the co-op's first solar project. Originally built in 1861 by a local cooper, the Cooperage has withstood several incarnations since it was home to wooden barrel making. Today, the building is home to The Cooperage Project, a well-loved, non-profit community center, and as of December also to a 27kilowatt rooftop solar photovoltaic system, designed to provide 100% of the building's annual electricity usage. The Co-op received a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Renewable Energy for America (REAP) program to fund 25% of the project. Co-op members provided the rest. A family-owned, NABCEP-certified business, Buselli Solutions in nearby Beach Lake PA, designed, and installed the system.

"We are tremendously excited to receive national recognition for our first community-supported solar project," said Jack Barnett, president of the Clean Energy Co-op. "Projects such as these are common in other states that have community solar laws, but much harder here in rural Pennsylvania. We would love to help other local non-profits implement energy efficiency or renewable energy systems. Moving toward greater sustainability is important to our membership and our community."
 
"Through IREC's 3iAwards - celebrating Innovation, Ingenuity and Inspiration - we're proud to recognize programs, projects and individuals leading the way to a cleaner energy future," said IREC Board Chair Larry Shirley. "Their work is creating solutions to today's complex renewable energy and energy efficiency challenges - changing the national energy conversation and our communities in the process," added Ken Jurman, IREC board member and chair of the 3iAwards Committee.

The Cooperage will also be one of the Upper Delaware River Valley sustainable buildings on the upcoming Green Living Bus tour, hosted by a local non-profit, Sustainable Energy Education & Development Support (SEEDS) on Sunday October 2nd, as part of the 2016 National Solar Tour (www.nationalsolartour.org). For more information or to register for this bus tour, visit seedsgroup.net/get-on-the-bus.

For additional local information about the Clean Energy Co-op, visit www.CleanEnergy.Coop, or contact George Brown at gakbrown2000@gmail.com. For more information about The Cooperage Project in Honesdale, visit www.TheCooperageProject.org, or contact Ryanne Jennings at ryanne@thecooperageproject.org. For information about IREC and their 3iAwards, contact Ruth Fein at518.858.7329 or ruthw@irecusa.org.

​KDC has been a Rural Cooperative Development Center for 17 years, and in this time we have developed a sophisticated array of state, regional, and national programs for cooperative business development. KDC had a very active year in 2015, serving 31 cooperative businesses as well as 15 potential cooperative groups and an additional six non-cooperative businesses.  We incorporated three new cooperatives last year, Allegheny Solar Cooperative and the Soil Building Partners Cooperative, as well as MontCo Union Taxi LLC, which was not legally formed as a cooperative due to restrictions in the Maryland statues, but it operates on a cooperative basis. We provided feasibility studies or business plans to two groups and assisted three organizations with bylaws development. 
 
Over the life of the center we have assisted over 100 clients and worked on at least 29 different feasibility studies.  Our best estimates are that KDC has helped to create 25 cooperatives that sustained operations for five years or more.  Of these we estimate that 65 full-time or part-time jobs were created.  The aggregate annual gross sales of these cooperatives are estimated to be greater than $25,000,000.  In addition, we have impacted over 70 other cooperatives or startup groups. Our collective qualifications include meeting facilitation, co-op education, bylaws and incorporation, member equity drives, feasibility analysis, market research, business planning, financial modeling, board development, management development, organizational analysis, administrative systems, cooperative law and cooperative taxes. 
 
Neil Stauffer, General Manager of Penn’s Corner Farm Alliance, which has worked with KDC since 1999, says he considers KDC “an essential partner” to his thriving business. Jack Barnett, President of the Clean Energy Cooperative, which recently made their successful solar installation, says KDC’s assistance has been “crucial” for his co-op’s progress.  Testaments like these speak to KDC’s ability to deliver technical assistance that is timely, effective, and tailored to the needs of the client.
 
KDC immerses our development efforts into new cooperative approaches for our region.  KDC is working with our third shellfish grower’s cooperative to establish a hatchery in Maryland to support this growing industry.  We are supporting our second taxi cooperative, one where 100% of the cabs will be handicap-accessible. Additionally, we are responding to a growth in natural resources cooperatives with multiple and diverse projects including a community solar energy cooperative, a forestry cooperative and continued support to a cooperative of farmers to accept and compost food and organic waste from local municipal areas.
 
Our development strategy is cooperation among cooperatives. We focus on building regional food systems that are deeply inclusive of people living in economically distressed areas, especially rural farmers.  For example, we linked the Heritage Shellfish Cooperative and Lancaster Farm Fresh Cooperative with food cooperatives in the Philadelphia region.   We help farmers extract the “local and organic premium” by assisting them to organize among themselves to lower per farm transportation and marketing costs.  Then we help them open-up marketing channels to retail outlets where consumers are willing to pay a premium for local food. 
 
The work plan being proposed is divided into five primary areas of activity:  1) Supporting the formation and sustainability of a cooperative regional food system; 2) Delivering technical assistance to environmentally sustainable cooperative enterprises in the Mid-Atlantic region ; 3) Supporting the significantly increased interest in worker cooperatives and business conversions to employee ownership; 4) Providing education and outreach about cooperative solutions through collaboration with partner organizations; and 5) Maintaining a sustainable regional cooperative development center. 
 
Local and community support for the Keystone Development Center’s mission is widespread and strong.  All of our projects have local collaborators and partners.  Our diverse community partners include industry and business partners such as United Producers, Inc., and the AFL-CIO; associations such as Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture (PASA) and the Philadelphia Area Cooperative Alliance; educational institutions such as Rutgers University, Penn State University, and Morgan State University; and governmental agencies such as the New Jersey Department of Agriculture and the Baltimore County Department of Environmental Protection. We have successfully raised sources of support for KDC to supplement Rural Cooperative Development Grant program resources and will continue to do so, building a broadly experienced, healthy and financially sustainable organization. 
 
Our Board of Directors adds an additional dimension to KDC’s ability to provide assistance to cooperative groups. Board members bring extensive experience in rural development and organizational development. Several have direct experience in cooperative development and management.  Our Directors have a deep commitment to cooperative development and bring a wealth of experience in running a nonprofit doing economic development.  

Jen Christopher is KDC's IT consultant. She has worked in the IT industry since 2008, with a background in systems integration, software deployment, and technology based business solutions. She has worked with several Pennsylvania based cooperative businesses, including Weavers Way, CreekSide, Swarthmore and Mariposa. Her specialties include point of sale systems, web design, data reporting and analysis, employee training, technical documentation, and inventory management. 
 ​
KDC: Describe your role and responsibilities at KDC.
JC:  I work with KDC’s internal Information Technology systems, from database management to cloud files to email maintenance. Last year I had the opportunity to redesign KDC’s website. I also work with a number of KDC’s clients to provide as-needed or project-based IT support. Some of the services I offer for our cooperative clients include point of sale system management, network administration, software implementation, hardware and software support and website design. I also love to generate detailed reporting with easy to use action items to help busy food co-op team members make informed, data driven decisions.
 
Because I work with multiple food cooperatives, I have the opportunity to help existing and emerging co-ops make decisions based on the results their peers might have had with similar approaches. Technology often seems like a luxury, but the effect good systems and early implementation have on the efficiency and accuracy of your business operations cannot be overstated. Two of my biggest goals are to help new co-ops make great technology decisions and to help existing co-ops keep up with rapidly changing technology demands.
 
KDC: What is your background and how did you come to be in your current position?
JC: Although I went to school for Anthropology, I found myself working in a Computer Recycling Center during most of my education. I learned a huge amount about hardware, software and legacy systems in that position. Once I graduated, I was hired by Weavers Way as a data entry technician. That connection eventually led to my role as Director of IT at CreekSide Co-op and a simultaneous position as POS Coordinator at Swarthmore Co-op. One of my coworkers at Swarthmore referred me to Peggy, KDC’s executive director, for a cloud system implementation.  I have been working with KDC in a consulting role ever since.
 
KDC:  What attracted you to the cooperative model?
 JC: I was lucky enough to fall into it when I was hired by Weavers Way. I began to learn about how co-ops develop and the way they mean so much more to their communities than just the food that they sell. It is an incredible thing to see a community to come together to pursue a shared goal. My favorite part of walking into a new co-op is discovering the unique products the individual buyers are able to obtain – local dairy products, incredible baked goods, and an always amazing prepared foods department. I never leave a new store empty handed.
 
KDC: As you look to the future what do you see as the greatest opportunities and trends for cooperatives?
JC: I see co-ops continuing to innovate and find new ways to make themselves useful and unique in their communities. When I went to Up & Coming and the CooperationWorks! Training earlier this year I saw an incredible amount of support and enthusiasm for the model. A lot of the larger chains are beginning to incorporate “co-op-like” terminology into their marketing campaigns, but the die-hard cooperators won’t be fooled. There is also a lot of room for co-ops with more conventional product selections – something that historically has seemed at odds with the co-op effort. A great example is the Renaissance Co-op in Greensboro, where the community decided to solve their long standing food desert by creating a community store.
 
KDC: What do you see as the biggest challenges?
JC: It can be difficult for even the most successful co-ops to provide competitive, accessible pricing while simultaneously meeting the goal of fair wages. Additionally, although co-ops have access to larger data stores, it is often underutilized. This means that they respond more slowly to sales and market trends. My goal with my co-ops is to keep them aware of these resources and provide recommendations for the best ways to utilize them as part of a larger operational strategy.
 
Food cooperatives also typically lack the ability to cut costs by purchasing huge volumes of product. They are limited by their smaller floor plans and limited warehouse space, not to mention the fact that many co-ops only have one store location. One of my favorite projects currently is an analysis of the feasibility of a share purchasing cooperative for several of the Philadelphia area food cooperatives. This purchasing cooperative would allow the participating co-ops to store more product from their largest vendor, allowing them to take better advantage of promotional pricing. It could also significantly improve their relationship with local vendors because it will reduce the number of delivery locations while increasing order size and guaranteeing that they are able to collaboratively meet purchasing minimums.
 
KDC: What keeps you inspired?
JC:  Because I work remotely, I have the freedom to travel. I get to see cooperative businesses all over the country – from Bloomingfoods in Bloomington, Indiana to the New Orleans Food Co-op to the East End Food Co-op in Pittsburgh, not to mention all the wonderful cooperatives I have the pleasure to work with in the Greater Philadelphia area. All of these successful organizations and the enthusiastic people behind them keeps me inspired!