The problem with co-ops
The problem with co-ops is that they just make too much damn sense.
Today I finally became a member of Co-op. [1] This year I also became a mortgage holder with Affinity Credit Union.
What took me so long?
Co-operatives are customer and community owned for profit businesses. They work just like any other business, except that instead of handing profits over to shareholders, they hand them over to their members and the communities in which they operate.
In other words, they are kind of like crown corporations, but more competitive.
The Co-op logo. You'll see it everywhere in Saskatchewan. (Source)
Co-operatives distribute profits in a number of ways. First, many, like Co-op, literally hand money back to their members (whom they will often call their "shareholders").
Second, many also have committees made up of members and staff that dole out thousands upon thousands of dollars to local non-profits and other initiatives. I only came to realize this during my years working for Upstream.
In places like Saskatchewan, a province with a long history of successful co-operatives, after years of state withdrawal co-operatives are becoming the backbone of civil society.
Third, co-operatives tend to be stellar employers, providing secure employment and living wages to their employees. These wages ultimately end up spent and reinvested locally. I should know, I wrote The Business Case for a Living Wage in Saskatoon.
So, returning to my initial question: what took me so long to get more involved in my local co-ops?
And while we're at it, why aren't more people like myself getting involved?
Co-ops might just make too much damn sense.
Co-operatives don't typically have the same resources as multinational competitors to invest in advertising, and their democratic decision making processes cause them to often fail to fully appreciate the value of identifying and expanding into new markets—even when those new markets are the next generation.
A lot of co-op members seem to think that all the good sense of co-operatives speaks for itself.
Unfortunately, too many people, especially young people like myself, just don't know about all this good sense.
People like me want to contribute to creating a more just society, and they want to give back to their communities. Most regularly do. But they don't necessarily connect becoming a member of their local co-operatives with these efforts.
I learned about the crucial role co-operatives play in my community through working for a local non-profit. Realistically, most people are not going to spend two years of their life doing the same.
When my partner and I were shopping around for mortgage rates we decided to weigh the costs and benefits of purchasing our mortgage with Affinity: how much was it worth to us to know that the fees and interest on our mortgage would stay in our community?
We decided that about $10,000 over thirty years seemed reasonable ($300 a year). In the end, Affinity's mortgage rates were plenty competitive and we didn't even end up coming close to that threshold. [2]
I've started to try and perform a similar mental calculus more often.
At my local privately owned grocer, they often participate in drives asking me to donate $2 for this or that charity. Why not spend a little more at my local co-op grocer and know that that money has already been earmarked long before I make it to the till?
Same thing at my local hardware store. Also, every time I buy gas... Especially in Saskatchewan, opportunities present themselves often.
Ultimately, co-operatives aren't a hard sell, and they should be blowing up. But people need to be made aware of just how much sense they make.
[1] If you drive around Saskatchewan you will see the red and white Co-op brand everywhere. Interestingly, each branded co-op is a different business, but they all draw from the same brand and organizational structure provided by—wait for it—a co-op of co-operatives called the Federated Co-operatives Limited (FCL).
[2] Aside: I spoke to a mortgage broker and trawled online mortgage rate aggregators to try and decipher what the competitive rates were. Interestingly, these did not include listings from Affinity and similar credit unions.