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The largest statewide association of its kind, Cooperative Network serves more than 600 member-cooperatives, owned by more than 6.1 million Wisconsin and Minnesota residents, by providing government relations, education, marketing, and technical services for a wide variety of cooperatives including farm supply, health, dairy marketing, consumer, financial, livestock marketing, telecommunications, electric, housing, insurance, worker-owned cooperatives, and more.

Cooperative Network is governed by a board of directors made up of cooperative leaders from across both states. Legislative and educational priorities are decided by the membership each year.

History
In 1969, the Wisconsin Council of Agricultural Cooperatives and the Wisconsin Association of Cooperatives joined together and became the Wisconsin Federation of Cooperatives. They formed one board of directors made up of district directors and functional (sector) directors. In 1998, the Minnesota Association of Cooperatives, formed in 1945, entered into a managing agreement with the Wisconsin Federation of Cooperatives, under which the associations shared a CEO and president, as well as some staff in WFC's Madison, WI office. The membership of WFC and MAC voted to formally unite and become one organization in 2004. At the November annual meeting in 2008, WFC-MAC members voted to change its name and reform its governance structure. As of January 1, 2009, the WFC-MAC's name is Cooperative Network. The governance structure was changed at the 2009 annual meeting, and the WFC board and the MAC board were merged into one 27-seat board of directors.

Membership
Cooperative Network provides business development, communications, education, government affairs, safety, and environmental services to its more than 600 member-cooperatives and the 6.1 million Wisconsin and Minnesota residents that own them. These services help to strengthen cooperative businesses, growth the economy, and serve the community.

Cooperative Network regularly distriubutes newsletters as a benefit to their members. Dispatch is a Minnesota publication that updates its members in Minnesota about Cooperative Network's legislative and regulatory work. Contact is a Wisconsin publication that updates members about Cooperative Network's legislative and regulatory work in Wisconsin. Capsule is a Minnesota publication that provides information on non-profit, consumer-owned electric cooperatives. Dairy Update is distributed in Minnesota and Wisconsin and reports on matters pertaining to dairy cooperatives. Mutual Interests is a Wisconsin publication and informs mutual insurance members about legislation and regulatory matters. Co-op Living, a Minnesota publication, informs senior housing members about legislative and regulatory matters, as well as general industry information.

Cooperative Network’s members include Fortune 300 companies like CHS Inc. and Land O’ Lakes, highly rated health care providers like HealthPartners HMO and Group Health Cooperative of South Central Wisconsin; mutual insurance companies such as Nationwide Insurance and a large number of town mutual insurance companies; AgriBank and CoBank, the largest Farm Credit Banks in the national Farm Credit System with assets of more than $230 billion ; electric cooperatives such as Connexus Energy in Minnesota and Adams-Columbia Electric Cooperative in Wisconsin that collectively provide power to a substantial portion of the residential and business consumers in both states; as well as local community grocery cooperatives such as The Wedge Community Co-op in the urban and rural areas of each state.

Cooperative Network also hosts education programs and conferences for its members, including the Wisconsin Electric Cooperative Association Youth Congress and the Youth Leadership Conference.

Cooperative Network’s members include farm supply, health care, dairy marketing, credit union, Farm Credit, livestock marketing, telecommunications and electric utility, housing, mutual insurance, school district, transportation, and worker-owned cooperative businesses. Cooperative Network is also the state licensed lobbyist for the Wisconsin Farm Credit System.

Staff
Management


 * William L. Oemichen- President and CEO


 * Pat Berry- Vice President and COO


 * Share Brandt- Vice President and Electric Division General Manager


 * Matt Hughes- Managing Director, Minnesota

Administration


 * Vicky Chaput- Executive Assistant


 * Wendy Fassbind- Executive Assistant


 * Wendy Endlund- Office Manager


 * Kim Striebel- Accountant

Membership/Education


 * David Erickson- Director of Member Services, Wisconsin


 * Vacant- Director of Member Services, Minnesota

Electric Division


 * Share Brandt- Vice President and WECA Manager


 * David Hoopman- Director of Regulatory Affairs


 * Beata Kalies- Director of Government Relations

Environmental & Safety Services Program


 * Tim Clay- Environmental Program Director

Dairy


 * David Ward- Dairy Director

Communications


 * Bridget McCann-Horn- Director of Public Affairs


 * Dana Kelroy- Director of Media Relations

Wisconsin Energy Cooperative News


 * Perry Baird- Editor


 * Mary Erickson- Field Editor


 * Wendy Fassbind- Editorial Assistant


 * Gerry Wallace- Layout/Design


 * Nancy Novak- Advertising/Marketing

Governmental Affairs


 * John Manske- Director of Governmental Affairs


 * Bridget McCann-Horn- Director of Public Affairs


 * Beata Kalies- Director of Government Relations


 * Jim Rabbit- Director of Government Relations


 * David Ward- Dairy Director


 * Tim Clay- Environmental Program Director


 * Matt Hughes- Managing Director, Minnesota


 * Vacant- Director of Member Services, Minnesota

Minnesota Co-op Care


 * Charlene Vrieze- Minnesota Co-op Care Coordinator

Special Licenses
Cooperative Network's government affairs staff includes licensed lobbyists in Wisconsin and Minnesota. President and CEO Bill Oemichen is a member of the Wisconsin and Minnesota State Bar Association.

Cooperative Principles
The cooperative principles are guides by which cooperatives put their values into practice.


 * 1) Voluntary and Open Membership- Cooperatives are voluntary organizations, open to all persons willing to accept membership responsibilities, without discrimination.
 * 2) Democratic Member Control- Cooperatives are democratic organizations controlled by their members, in which each member receives one vote.
 * 3) Member Economic Participation- Members contribute equitably to, and democratically control, the capital of their cooperative. The capital is used for common property of the cooperative, compensation to members, and can be allocated to other purposes, as the membership chooses.
 * 4) Autonomy and Independence- Cooperatives are independent, self-governing organizations controlled by their members.
 * 5) Education, Training and Information- Cooperatives provide education and training for their members, elected representatives, managers, and employees in order to develop their cooperatives. The general public is informed about the benefits of cooperation.
 * 6) Cooperation Among Cooperatives- Cooperatives work together though local, regional, national and international structures in order to best serve their members
 * 7) Concern for Community- Cooperatives develop their communities through policies approved by their members.

Wisconsin Electric Cooperative Association
On March 1, 1996, Wisconsin Electric Cooperative Association entered a unification agreement with the Wisconsin Federation of Cooperatives under which the WFC provides statewide services previously provided by the WECA. The agreement carried over to Cooperative Network, which makes Wisconsin the only state in the nation where the general cooperative trade association and statewide electric cooperative association are united in one organization.

Federated Youth Foundation
The Wisconsin Federated Youth Foundation provides scholarships, supports charitable causes, and funds education projects. The Foundation is administered by Cooperative Network, and is governed by a board of seven directors who are elected by the membership. The FYF is a vehicle for receiving unclaimed property, gifts, and donations from individuals and cooperatives, credit unions, and mutual insurance companies. Because the FYF is tax exempt and a professional administration, it protects contributing organizations from potential legal and administrative problems regarding distribution of unclaimed property.

Minnesota Cooperative Education Foundation
The Minnesota Cooperative Education Foundation provides scholarships for high schoolers, undergraduates, and graduate students, in order to "sponser qualified individuals and organizations to further the goals of cooperatives and their members" as the vision statement declares. The Foundation educates others about the role of cooperatives in our communities.

International Year of Cooperatives
The United Nations declared 2012 the International Year of Cooperatives in order to recognize and celebrate the impact cooperative have on poverty reduction, social integration, economic development, and all benefits that cooperatives deliver to their members. The goal is to encourage the growth and development of cooperatives around the world. As a co-op, Cooperative Network is working to reach the United Nation’s goal through youth programs and cooperative education.

Year of the Farmer Co-op
As a part of the United Nations' International Year of Cooperatives, the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives is recognizing 2012 as the Year of the Farmer Co-op. NCFC and its members will strive to focus on the role of farmer cooperatives in the daily lives of family farmers. Because a cooperative is owned by its members, farmer co-ops give the producers a unique and crucial role in the food and agriculture system.

Great Lakes Cooperative Center
The Great Lakes Cooperative Center is a partnership between Cooperative Network and the University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives. The GLCC works to develop new cooperatives and assist existing cooperatives in help their members. It is headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin. Some of the GLCC's projects include :

Health Care


 * Bill Oemichen


 * Jim Rabbit


 * Char Vrieze

Cooperative Energy Efficiency Retrofit Project


 * Share Brandt


 * Tim Clay

Local Food System Project


 * Courtney Berner

General Cooperative Development Guidance


 * David Erickson

Senior Cooperative Housing


 * Vicky Chaput