October 2, 2003

 

Workshop to Focus on Cooperative’s Need for Non-patron Equity Capital

Helping cooperative leaders decide if their enterprises should seek non-patron equity capitol will be the focus of a workshop organized by the Quentin Burdick Center for Cooperatives, Nov. 5 in Minneapolis.

"Generating equity capital is a major issue for cooperatives as they expand to compete with other businesses," says Bill Nelson, director of the center which is located at North Dakota State University. The need has led to the new cooperative law in Minnesota that allows non-patrons to be investors in cooperatives and serve on the board of directors.

Speakers and discussion leaders at the workshop include Mike Cook, an agricultural economist and expert on cooperative leadership at the University of Missouri; James Baarda, an agricultural economist with the USDA’s Cooperative Services; William Nganje, an agricultural economist at NDSU; and Robert Doane of CoBank.

Mark Hanson of the Lindquist and Vennum law firm in St. Paul and David Swanson, chair of agribusiness and cooperative law with Dorsey and Whitney in Minneapolis will be on the first reaction panel. Directors of limited liability companies and cooperatives using non-patron equity capital will be on the second reaction panel.

The workshop precedes the two day cooperative development forum organized by the National Cooperative Business Association focused on cooperation among cooperatives.

Contact Bill Nelson or Marge Lougheed at the Burdick Center for Cooperatives for more information and registration before Oct 6 (Early Bird discount), Oct. 13 (hotel rate guarantee), or Oct. 24 (last date for registration). The center’s Web page is www.ag.ndsu.nodak.edu/qbcc/  Contact the center at ndsu.qbcc@ndsu.nodak.edu,  (701) 231-1016 or (701) 231- 6370.

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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