Cooperatives: Contributing to the success of our communities
By Emily Whitmarsh
Editor’s note: Whitmarsh won the 2008 Missouri Institute of Cooperatives FFA speaking contest. Here we print the speech she delivered for the contest, and as winner, to the institute’s member banquet. Whitmarsh is the daughter of Mike and Sherry Whitmarsh, Miller, Mo. She will be a junior at Miller High School. Jay Shepherd and Lyle Whittaker are her FFA advisors.
The early 1840s weren’t the most promising times for people in northern England. The Industrial Revolution had begun and its new technology and machinery evolved nearly every day. Workers from factories were struggling to maintain the standard way of life. Weavers lived in poverty, their trade overtaken by machine. Something had to change. On Aug. 15, 1844, the Rochdale Equitable Pioneers Society was created. This cooperative changed the lives of many. Tradesmen decided to band together to open their own stores selling food items they couldn’t afford otherwise. In a cooperative you can receive a portion of the profit earned by the group based on your amount of purchase for that year. People could now get back money from using the Rochdale store facilities. This idea spread from Northern England to America.
Benjamin Franklin helped form the first cooperative in the United States. This cooperative was called the Philadelphia Contributorship. The Philadelphia Contributorship helped provide insurance to people who lost their homes from fire. This cooperative is still operating. It continues to serve members in Pennsylvania, and additionally, it provides insurance in New Jersey. The Philadelphia Contributorship is the oldest continuing fire insurance company and the third oldest corporation in the country.
You might be wondering what the early 1840s and the first cooperatives have to do with our lives now. On January 13, 2007, just about a year ago, Ted Koeller from KOLR 10 news came on television with a severe weather report. The National Weather Service is predicting ice accumulations of one half inch with temperatures to remain below thirty-two degrees, he told us. The ice could cause power lines to snap and tree branches to fall.
Over the next couple days, ice began to build up. Every branch, every fence and every blade of grass was covered. Barn roofs began to cave in. Trees were cracking and falling. Cars were trapped at home. People couldn’t get to work. Electricity poles snapped in half for miles and miles and then the lights went out.
On that January day, people were scared and lost without power. No heat, no microwaves— and no television. Many rural residents were also without water. Many towns were in need of power. A Missouri Cooperative, the Ozark Electric Company, came to the rescue. According to Electric Co-op Today magazine, Missouri systems sent 263 additional linemen and 104 trucks to co-ops in the state. Crews from seven other states all came to help. With over 750,000 people out of power, (20,000 of them being customers of Ozark Electric), the Ozark Electric Company worked day and night to restore our power and get our lives back to normal. Power was restored in full by Jan. 28, 2007.
Everyone benefits from cooperatives. As described in Webster’s Dictionary, a cooperative is an enterprise or organization owned by or operated for the benefit of those using its services. The economic benefits of a cooperative are given back to members, reinvested in the company, or used to provide member services. Cooperatives are owned and controlled by the very same customers who use its services. When reading that definition, you may not understand the importance of cooperatives in Missouri. But Missouri cooperatives are working daily to make sure we have food, clothing, transportation and many other things. Cooperatives strive to be successful in all areas.
To assure cooperative success, the Rochdale Equitable Pioneers Society created a set of seven principles. These principles created structure for their cooperative and for future cooperatives. The first of the seven principles is open and voluntary membership; cooperatives are voluntary organizations—they are open to anyone able to use their services. The second principle is democratic member control. This means cooperatives are controlled by their members—the members set policies and make decisions. The third principle is members’ economic participation. A cooperative’s members democratically control the capital of their cooperative. The fourth principle is autonomy and independence. organizations controlled by their members. The fifth is education, training, and information. Cooperatives strive to educate and train their members to make the business run smoothly. The sixth principle is cooperation among cooperatives. Cooperatives better themselves by coming and working together with others. Last is concern for community. Cooperatives focus on member needs but also on the development of their communities.
MFA Incorporated is a Midwest-based regional farm supply cooperative serving more than 45,000 farmers. MFA has been providing top-quality service and products since 1914. Products include feed, fertilizer, seed and much more. MFA provides service to customers and scholarships to high school graduates. You can see the cooperative strives to be a good neighbor in the communities it serves. MFA has led agriculture in establishing businesses, organizations and other cooperatives that have one purpose—first and foremost serving farmers.
Mid-Missouri Energy is a cooperative committed to making a renewable fuel that will make us less dependent on foreign oil. Mid-Missouri Energy buys corn from farmers. If you are a Mid-Missouri Energy member, you are required to produce and deliver 1,000 bushels of corn for each unit of stock you own. By chance you wouldn’t produce enough corn to fulfill the requirement, you are still accountable to deliver that much to Mid-Missouri Energy. For example, if a farmer had a bad growing season, the farmer would have to go buy corn from someone else to meet the number of bushels he promised. The Mid-Missouri Energy mission is to add value to our members’ production and to improve the economic future of our communities. Concern for community is a positive part of all cooperatives.
Cooperatives have been around for over 250 years making our lives better. From 1840 in northern England, when weavers were living in poverty, to now when the natural disaster had all of Missouri on edge with ice predictions of a half inch becoming reality plus water pipes bursting, trees damaging homes and power lines snapping, people were in panic mode. Cooperatives came together as one to restore our power and be the little ray of hope we all had.
Next time when you hear the word cooperative, don’t just think about an organization to benefit those using its services. Think about hope; think about dependability— because that is what Missouri cooperatives are really striving for.
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