3rd annual Co-op Day celebrated
A news conference was held Oct. 13 on the NDAREC campus in celebration of the 3rd annual Co-op Day.
Dakota Gasification Company - October 15, 2009
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ND Gov. Hoeven addresses the attendees of the 3rd annual |
Guest speaker, Dr. Greg McKee of the Burdick Center for Cooperatives, North Dakota State University, reported on the significant economic impact that member-owned organizations have had on our nation and state in the last year. “There are 531,000 memberships of cooperatives in our state. As you reflect on the proportion of that as the size of our population, you will see that many of our state’s residents are served by cooperative businesses. More than 8,000 people are employed on a full-time basis by cooperatives. Many others are employed on a part-time basis. Together, these jobs inject over $325 million into our economy each year,” he said.
Dr. McKee was joined by representatives of North Dakota cooperatives including Dennis Hill, NDAREC; David Crothers, North Dakota Association of Telecommunications Cooperatives; Vern Dosch, NISC; Ron Harper, Basin Electric Power Cooperative; Woody Barth, North Dakota Farmers Union; and Dana Bohn, Farm Credit Services.
North Dakota Gov. John Hoeven also joined the news conference and signed a proclamation declaring October as Co-op Month in North Dakota.
The theme of this year’s Co-op Day was “The State of our Cooperatives … Foundation for Stability in Uncertain Times.” Touching on the strong roots of co-ops, Harper said, “We’re going to have our fights, brotherly love and all this other stuff, but ask somebody from the outside to try to come in and separate us. It’s very difficult. We have a culture. We have a belief that our whole existence is for that person at the end of the line.”
Check out the Co-op Day video on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IDwmevTV48.
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