The Rural Wisconsin Co-op Ecosystem and the Importance of “Cross-Aisle” Political Support

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 University of Wisconsin’s Center for Cooperatives,  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 Alberta 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 Alberta 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 Alberta, and one that successive conservative provincial governments, all heavily dependent on votes from rural Alberta, 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 Alberta]? 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 Alberta 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 Alberta, 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 Alberta Centre for Sustainable Rural Communities Final Report on Co-operatives and Rural Economic Development HERE.