USDA Celebrates Partnerships With Rural Co-ops

U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has issued a USDA proclamation to recognize October 2024 as the department’s 60th anniversary of National Cooperative Month.

Since the start of the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA has invested more than $17 billion in loans and grants to spur economic development, catalyze rural prosperity and advance equity through rural cooperatives.

“Cooperatives are the backbone of our nation and are central to President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to rebuild the economy from the bottom up and middle out,” Vilsack said. “Today, we celebrate our partnerships with these organizations and renew our commitment to champion the vital work they accomplish in building local wealth, creating new opportunities and serving the unique needs of rural communities throughout the country.”

This year’s theme for the month-long celebration is “The Future is Cooperative,” acknowledging the unique and essential role cooperatives play in providing clean, affordable energy, increasing economic opportunities and improving the quality of life for people in rural America.

In his proclamation, Vilsack noted that more than 30,000 cooperatives throughout the U.S. account for more than 2 million jobs and generate more than $700 billion in annual revenue. Secretary Vilsack also noted that USDA has been serving the nation’s farmer cooperatives for 98 years with cooperative statistics, research, technical assistance and informational products.

This year, National Cooperative Month comes on the heels of President Biden’s historic announcement of more than $7.3 billion in financing for rural electric cooperatives to build clean energy for rural communities through the Empowering Rural America program. Together, New ERA and other investments in rural clean energy in the President’s Inflation Reduction Act make up the largest investment in rural electrification and in electric cooperatives since the 1936 Rural Electrification Act.

As part of the month-long observance, USDA Rural Development Under Secretary Dr. Basil Gooden delivered remarks at the National Cooperative Business Association CLUSA’s Cooperative IMPACT Conference in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 2. The conference is the only national, cross-sector event focused on how cooperatives serve to create economic opportunities and strengthen communities across the nation.

Cooperatives are businesses owned and controlled by the people who use them. They differ from other businesses because they are member-owned and operate for the benefit of members, rather than to earn profits for investors.

Cooperatives are a trusted, democratic, time-tested business model that builds local wealth for members and communities. Organized to meet the economic needs of its member-owners, a cooperative is a particularly resilient business model and embodies the concept of selfhelp.