Making co-operatives first: how we started, what we do and lessons learned transcript

The Canadian Centre for the Study of Co-operatives’ (CCSC) Monthly Brown Bag is an online gathering for co-operative sector professionals to learn from others in the field and exchange information in a casual setting.

On December 1, 2021, the second Monthly Brown Bag featured Co-operatives First, a nonprofit organization funded by Federated Co-operatives Limited (FCL) and the Co-operative Retailing System (CRS). Our speakers were Audra Krueger, Executive Director of Co-operatives First, and Sheldon Stener Q.C., General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, FCL, and Chair of the Board at Co-operatives First. Founded in 2015, Co-operatives First provides co-op start-up resources, such as feasibility studies, business plans, and incorporation support to rural and Indigenous co-op entrepreneurs across western Canada. Their goal is to help leaders in these communities build new businesses, grow local economies, and support community development. Audra and Sheldon shared the story of Co-operatives First, which began with a research project called the Co-operative Innovation Project (CIP) at the University of Saskatchewan’s Canadian Centre for the Study of Co-operatives.

Below is the full transcript of their talk.

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Community-based innovation: The story of the Conexus incubator and venture capital fund transcript

The Canadian Centre for the Study of Co-operatives’ (CCSC) Monthly Brown Bag is an online gathering for co-operative sector professionals to learn from others in the field and exchange information in a casual setting. On November 3, 2021, the first Monthly Brown Bag featured Eric Dillon, the chief executive officer of Conexus Credit Union, and Mary Weimer, the chief member experience officer of Conexus Credit Union. Eric and Mary shared the story of how Conexus leveraged its co-operative and community connections to build a small business incubator (Conexus Cultivator) and venture capital fund (Conexus Venture Capital) to deliver technical advice, strategic guidance, and financial support for Saskatchewan’s start-up businesses. To date, 66 Saskatchewan start-up companies have taken part in the Conexus Cultivator and raised $19.4 million in capital and $11.1 million in revenue.

Below is the full transcript of their talk.

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The Hope for a Federal Co-op Development Strategy

Danielle Potter

Much attention is focused this week on Motion M-100, which asks Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED) to establish a national co-operative development strategy in Canada. The motion passed unanimously in the House of Commons on 5 April 2017, sending a clear message to the Government of Canada. Continue reading

Governance Issues in European Co-ops: Are There Lessons Here for Their Canadian Cousins?

hanisch-2015

Markus Hanisch

The Centre’s second annual MacPherson Talk featured Dr. Markus Hanisch, managing director of the Institute for Research on Co-operatives at Humboldt University in Berlin.

Hanisch’s presentation — “Changing Governance in European Co-operatives: Simply Shifting or Losing Control?” — outlined a series of innovations occurring in European co-operative governance and the impact of these changes on co-operative performance. Based on data from 571 farmer co-operatives in the European Union, Hanisch concluded that co-operatives that have implemented certain governance innovations — professionalising and allowing outsiders to join their boards of directors, recruiting larger boards, and creating a governance model in which the co-op acts as a holding structure — have improved their performance. The research also notes, however, that these shifts towards corporate governance structures may affect member control. Continue reading