December 21, 2001

Workshop on Starting Value-Added Cooperatives Set for Jan. 9 in Grand Forks

"The Keys to Starting and Operating a Successful Value-Added Cooperative" workshop will be held Wednesday, Jan. 9, at the Alerus Center in Grand Forks.

The workshop will precede the Marketplace of Ideas event being held Thursday, Jan. 10 at the Alerus Center. The workshop is scheduled to run from 1:30 to 9 p.m. Registration of $35 per person includes breaks and dinner. Register by Jan. 4 by sending a check along with your name, phone number and e-mail address to the Quentin Burdick Center for Cooperatives, P.O. Box 5636, Fargo, ND 58105-5636.

The workshop will outline the organizational steps in starting a successful new generation cooperative from the vision through the startup phase. The event is sponsored by the Quentin Burdick Center for Cooperatives at North Dakota State University, the Dakota Cooperative Development Center in Mandan and the North Dakota Coordinating Council of Cooperatives.

Keynote speaker at the workshop is Randall Torgerson, deputy administrator of the USDA’s Cooperative Services. Torgerson will review the strengths and weaknesses of the cooperative movement nationally. Bill Patrie, director of the Dakota Cooperative Development Center, will outline the cooperative development process.

A panel of representatives from several successful new generation cooperatives will discuss lessons learned during the development of their cooperatives. Panel members include, Tim Dufault, director of Spring Wheat Bakers and Farm Connect; Paul Caspers of South Dakota Soybean Processors; Daryl Dukart, board chairman of Cloverdale Growers; David Merwin, CEO of the Dakota Lamb Growers Cooperative; and a representative of the Dakota Growers Pasta Company.

A second panel will be made up of representatives from several not-so-successful cooperatives efforts. That panel will include Keith Peltier, past board chairman of Ag Grow Oils; Steve Engler, past board chairman of Northern Produce; and Dwight Bassingthwaite, of Northern Premium Beef.

Dinner speaker will be Don Hofstrand, secretary of the Ag Ventures Alliance and farm management field specialist with Iowa State University Extension in Mason City. He will speak on the role of alliances in value-added cooperative formation.

The event will close with a panel of resource providers from state and federal agencies and universities. Participants will be able to interact with those providers to learn more about available programs.

For more information on the workshop, contact Bill Nelson, director of the Burdick Center for Cooperatives at (701) 231-1016 or bill.nelson@ndsu.nodak.edu. Assistant director Frayne Olson at (701) 231-7688 or folson@ndsuext.nodak.edu can also answer questions. For more information on Marketplace of Idea, contact Marilyn Kipp at (888) 384-8410 or Kippasso@btinet.net .

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Source: Bill Nelson, (701) 231-1016, bill.nelson@ndsu.nodak.edu
Editor: Tom Jirik, (701) 231-9629, tjirik@ndsuext.nodak.edu