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University of Nebraska–Lincoln

NCDC

Nebraska Cooperative Development Center

About Us

Mission

To build a strong, engaged, and sustainable network of people with access to local, state, and national resources, dedicated to allowing people to prosper in rural areas by helping them to work together to increase their incomes via cooperative development, and to help facilitate “value-added” opportunities.

Goals

  • Create and/or expand successful group efforts, including cooperatives, that promote value-added agriculture and related types of entrepreneurship.
  • Increase cooperation and sharing among producers, especially those who are interested in exploring the possibility of transitioning to a new type of agriculture.
  • Provide customized and continuous service to producer groups throughout the life of relevant projects.
  • Facilitate and support favorable public policy by increasing the awareness of rural people’s needs and the role of cooperative development.


Learn More Through These Videos:

Be a price maker through the Cooperative Business model. Jim Crandall, Program Coordinator of the Nebraska Cooperative Development Center, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, showcases the Cooperative model and how it works as a business structure or marketing association. An advantage is the cooperative's ability to access larger markets by aggregating products and increasing price through volume. Individual investments are financial as well as time and talents. There are 26 similar organizations across the United States.


Jim Crandall, Program Coordinator of the Nebraska Cooperative Development Center, University of Nebraska-Lincoln details the services provided by NCDC: formation discussions, feasibility studies, board of directors training, building membership, and marketing the products. As a cooperative board of directors one does have legal responsibility to the membership to create a successful business. The cooperative business model can be powerful if done correctly.