Co-Op Month

So what exactly is a co-op? It is a business owned and controlled by its members, the same people who shop there, bank there, or buy its products. Instead of distant shareholders calling the shots, every member gets one vote, no matter how much they have invested, and instead of profits flowing to outside investors, earnings come back to the members and the community in the form of better prices, better services, and dividends. The model runs on a simple motto that cooperatives have lived by for generations: people over profit. When you join a co-op, you are not just a customer. You are an owner with a say in how things run, which makes every checkout lane feel a little like a town meeting and every annual meeting feel a little like a family reunion.

The idea of setting aside a month to celebrate cooperatives started in 1924 in Waukegan, Illinois, when members of Co-op Trading decided the cooperative movement deserved its own time in the spotlight. It took a while to catch on officially, but in 1948, Minnesota Governor Luther Youngdahl proclaimed October as Cooperative Month. Then in 1964, former Minnesota Governor Orville Freeman, by then the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, proclaimed a national cooperative month, and the celebration went coast to coast. The federal government sponsored Cooperative Month events for seven years after that declaration, until 1971, when responsibility for the observance was turned over to cooperative organizations themselves. The co-ops, fittingly, took ownership of their own celebration.

Today the observance is directed by a national planning committee made up of a coalition of telephone, electric, financial, business, health, housing, childcare, grocery, purchasing, franchising, and agriculture cooperatives. Each year, the National Cooperative Business Association, known as NCBA CLUSA, produces a fresh theme and logo for Co-op Month and hosts downloadable resources, social media graphics, and fun facts at coopmonth.coop. Recent themes have included “Cooperatives Build a Better World,” which echoed the United Nations messaging around cooperatives, and “Co-ops Build Economic Power.” The theme for 2026, “Built for This Moment,” is a nod to how cooperatives were created to answer market failures and hard times, from electric co-ops that brought power to rural America when nobody else would, to worker co-ops tackling a broken care economy today. Cooperatives nationwide are encouraged to use the yearly theme and hashtags like #CoopMonth in their October outreach, turning one shared message into thousands of local celebrations.

The federal government still shows up for the party. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins proclaimed October 2026 as National Cooperative Month, marking the 62nd anniversary of the national observance. The USDA has highlighted billions of dollars in financial assistance for rural cooperatives, underscoring how member-owned businesses keep jobs, infrastructure, and community wealth rooted where people actually live. Governors across the country join in too, with more than a dozen states issuing their own Co-op Month proclamations in recent years, from Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont in New England to Georgia, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Tennessee, and Wisconsin. When governors, cabinet secretaries, and neighborhood food co-ops all agree on something, you know it must be good.

Chances are you already do business with a co-op and never realized it. Your credit union is a financial cooperative. The electricity in many rural homes arrives courtesy of an electric cooperative, and those same co-ops are now delivering essential broadband to communities the big providers skipped. Beloved brands like Cabot Creamery and Organic Valley are dairy cooperatives owned by farm families, and the Valley Co-operative Business Association has spent years showing neighbors in the Northeast exactly what the cooperative spirit looks like. Housing co-ops keep apartments affordable, worker co-ops keep local businesses in local hands, and food co-ops help shoppers navigate grocery prices while keeping dollars in the neighborhood. Tens of thousands of cooperatives operate across the country, and together they touch just about every part of daily life, from the lights you switch on to the cheese on your sandwich.

Celebrating Co-Op Month is easy and delicious. Stop into your local food co-op or credit union and ask how the cooperative model works there. Many co-ops mark October with open houses, community barbecues, parades, and official ceremonies, and it is the perfect excuse to meet the members behind the counter and the neighbors in the aisles. Look around your own kitchen and bills to spot the co-ops you already use, then share what you find on social media with #CoopMonth and tag your favorites so they get a little extra love. Or simply thank a co-op worker for being part of a business model that puts people first. After all, in a co-op, the customers are the bosses, and the bosses threw this party for everyone.

If you have ever wished a business would listen to you a little more, cooperatives are proof that it can happen. The model has survived recessions, a pandemic, and more than a century of change by doing one thing consistently: sharing power instead of hoarding it, and proving resilient when times get tough. From the electric co-ops now delivering broadband to rural America, to the food co-ops helping families navigate grocery prices, to the housing co-ops creating lasting affordability, cooperatives keep showing up for the moments that matter. That is worth a month of celebration, a lifetime of membership, and at least one really excellent block of cooperative cheese.

THE STORY BEHIND CO-OP MONTH

🧀 The 1924 Idea
Members of Co-op Trading in Waukegan, Illinois, decided in 1924 that cooperatives deserved a dedicated time to promote what makes them special.

📄 Minnesota Makes It Official
In 1948, Minnesota Governor Luther Youngdahl proclaimed October as Cooperative Month, giving the celebration its first official stamp.

🏛 It Goes National
In 1964, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Orville Freeman, a former Minnesota governor, proclaimed a national cooperative month for the whole country.

🤝 By Co-ops, For Co-ops
Since 1971, a national planning committee of telephone, electric, financial, housing, grocery, and agriculture cooperatives has directed the observance.

⭐ A Theme Every Year
NCBA CLUSA creates a fresh theme and logo each October, including 2026’s “Built for This Moment,” and shares free resources at coopmonth.coop.

WAYS TO CELEBRATE

🏪 Visit Your Local Co-op
Stop into your food co-op or credit union this October, meet the members behind the counter, and see people-over-profit in action.

🔍 Spot the Co-ops You Use
Check your kitchen, bills, and bank statements for cooperatives you already love, from Cabot Creamery to your electric co-op, and share them with #CoopMonth.

🥘 Host a Co-op Tasting Night
Gather friends for a potluck made with co-op goods, from cheese to coffee, and raise a glass to the businesses everybody owns.

Celebrate Co-Op Month

All through October 2027, give a cheer for the member-owned businesses that keep our communities fed, powered, and housed. Stop by a co-op, meet your fellow owners, and remember: in a cooperative, you are never just a customer. You are part of the team, and the team is throwing a party all month long.