The Rural Wisconsin Co-op Ecosystem and the Importance of “Cross-Aisle” Political Support
Clark Banack, Director, ϲ Centre for Sustainable Rural Communities - 3 October 2022
In the Fall of 2022, I spent a week studying the co-operative eco-system in rural Wisconsin. With the help of Courtney Berner, Executive Director of the , I was able to visit several rural co-ops and speak with many people involved in the sector. Wisconsin boasts one of the (if not the) most successful networks or rural co-ops in North America. Not only have co-ops played a significant role in the rural economy historical (just as they have in rural ϲ and so many other rural jurisdictions), Wisconsin led all American states in the number of rural-based co-ops incorporated between 2011-2019 – a stat that speaks to the ongoing success of the ecosystem. I was eager to learn any lessons that could be applied to the ϲ case.
The trip proved incredibly successful – I learned so much about the ways in which large and long-existing agricultural-based co-ops continued to support the formation of new co-ops across rural areas, the exciting work the University of Wisconsin’s Center for Cooperatives, and other co-op development groups did in the region to support the co-operative ecosystem, and some interesting ways newer co-ops were being used to aid in the transition of business succession in rural communities. However, the central lesson I took home from this trip was the importance of the “cross-aisle” support co-ops receive from the State government. Indeed, in a country that is often noted as suffering from a deep political polarization across almost every policy issue, co-ops remain an institution that are respected and supported by both Democrats and Republicans in Wisconsin – a situation that has led to several examples of significant support for co-op development in the State from the government. I repeatedly heard how important this was from so many different folks I spoke with, but no conversation was more impactful than one Courtney and I had with Rep. Loren Oldenberg, a staunch Republican politician who represents the rural region in and around Viroqua.
Rep. Oldenberg had recently taken the lead within the Wisconsin State Legislature on a bill, eventually passed, that would commit significant state funding toward feasibility studies for those interested in starting a co-op – a key component of co-op development. I was especially interested in this given our sense that, by and large, co-operatives have tended to be labeled a “left-wing” concept by many in ϲ, and one that successive conservative provincial governments, all heavily dependent on votes from rural ϲ, have expressed next to zero interest in supporting. I mentioned this to the rural Republican lawmaker and, to be frank, he was a bit flabbergasted. As a self-described “co-op man” who still sat on different co-op boards, he responded:
“Is it just a learning thing [in ϲ]? Do they not see the connection between rural co-ops and rural business growth? Because it’s as clear as day to me.”
This response, to me, summed up one of the most important differences between Wisconsin and ϲ in terms of contemporary political support for the co-operative movement, despite both having a very similar shared history of co-operatives in rural areas. In Wisconsin, the concept is understood by left and right leaning politicians alike, to be one that can be a pillar for positive rural economic growth, and in ϲ, this recognition does not seem to be nearly as strong – a dissimilarity that obviously helps to explain the vast differences that exist in terms of policy environments when it comes to co-ops.
To learn more about the rural co-op ecosystem in Wisconsin, and the political support it receives, check out the ϲ Centre for Sustainable Rural Communities Final Report on Co-operatives and Rural Economic Development HERE.