Agenda:
Tuesday July 29th: Optional Welcome Events- SOLD OUT
2-4:00 pm Tour 1: Walking + Bus Tour
Stretch your legs and learn about Morris. This tour will give you a better sense of the community you are visiting and learn how Morris' long history of cooperation (working together) has led to incredible innovation in sustainability, saving local businesses, and creating a thriving city. We will do a short walkabout in downtown Morris and visit a few local businesses (some organized as cooperatives!), including the Morris Theatre and Pomme de Terre Foods! Then we will board an electric bus to do a whirlwind green tour of Morris. Morris has been nationally recognized for sustainability leadership and its "Morris Model." We will visit solar panels, wind turbines and more!
2-3:00 pm Tour 2: Walking Tour
University of Minnesota Morris’ new Morris Model coordinator will lead a Morris Model tour downtown, stopping at several buildings - the city hall, community center, library and liquor store. Participants will be able to see the Morris Model signage put up on city buildings and learn more about our solar PV installations and progress. You’ll pass by some of the local cooperatives en route. The tour will run from 2-3 pm. Participants will meet in the Liquor Store parking lot with their own vehicles.
5-7:30 pm Networking Reception at Prime Steakhouse
7 East MN-28, Morris, MN 56267
A dinner reception of heavy appetizers and a cash bar is included with conference registration for those who will be in Morris on Tuesday evening. A brief program will take place around 5:45 pm featuring Marie Barry Director of Community Economic & Workforce Development at Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative.
Wednesday July 30th: Summit Agenda- SOLD OUT
8:00 am Networking Breakfast - Oyate Hall
Join Summit stakeholders for a light breakfast, coffee, and tea for a chance to connect with each other and engage with the resource tables in Oyate Hall at the University of Minnesota Morris.
8:45 am Welcome - Oyate Hall
Anna Wasescha, President, West Central Initiative
Gary Wertish, President, Minnesota Farmers Union
Janet Schrunk Ericksen, Chancellor, University of Minnesota Morris
9:00 am Opening Remarks - Oyate Hall
Mark Ritchie, Minnesota Secretary of State (2007-2015), Chair, World’s Fair Fund
9:15 am Keynote “Co-operatively Building a Better World”
"Escaping the Double Bind: Cooperative Regeneration in a Time of Crisis"
Jerome Warren, Board Member: Evolution Institute; Research Fellow: University of Cologne (Germany)
10:00 am Co-ops Are All Around Us - Oyate Hall
Lightning talks will feature co-op success stories from various sectors showcasing how powerful, versatile, and sustainable cooperatives can be.
Real Estate Investment Cooperatives: Leslie Watson, Northeast Investment Cooperative
Credit Unions: Debra L. Hurston, Arise Community Credit Union
Farmer Cooperatives: Chad Friese, Chippewa Valley Ethanol Cooperative
Consumer Cooperatives: Ryan Pesch, Manna Foods
10:30 am Break
10:45 am Co-op Level Setting - Oyate Hall
As newly formed cooperatives will be participating in the Summit, information on the basic elements of cooperatives will be provided for more equal participation in the subsequent discussions.
Co-ops 101: Everything you wanted to know about a co-op but were afraid to ask: Cathy Statz, National Cooperative Business Association (NCBA CLUSA)
How co-ops can increase opportunities for everyone: Christina Nicholson and Nkuli Shongwe, Nexus Community Partners
A cooperative policy agenda: what could we tackle together: Senator Aric Putnam
Finding funding for your cooperative project: Christina Jennings and Ashley Anderson, Shared Capital Cooperative
Your co-op needs you! Kathy Draeger, Agralite Rural Electric Coop and Erik Hatlestad, CURE
A cooperative policy agenda: what we could tackle together: Senator Aric Putnam
Noon: Lunch and International Year of Cooperatives Panel - Oyate Hall
Hear from world co-op leaders and researchers about why 2025 has been declared the International Year of Cooperatives and how co-ops are uniquely suited to help achieve SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) and support sustainable development.
Moderator: Gretchen Hacquard, International Cooperative Alliance
Jerome Warren, University of Cologne
Karen Yoshida Weldon, Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships
In the afternoon, attendees will dive deeper into the real-world examples of cooperatives that are meeting deep community needs and learn how to incorporate cooperative strategies to meet the economic and social needs of our state in the years to come.
1:30 pm Breakout Sessions: Creative Cooperative Solutions for Thorny Community Issues - Humanities and Science Buildings
Co-ops have been and will continue to be key for economic development in our state, from succession planning to incorporating marginalized groups to solving challenges that cannot be done alone. The breakout sessions will dig into six thorny issues that face communities across the state of Minnesota and showcase cooperative solutions for each topic.
Attendees can attend two different sessions, one at 1:30pm and the other at 2:30pm. There will be a break in between sessions from 2:15-2:30pm.
Breakout sessions:
Housing: Humanities 111
Both rural and urban communities are struggling with affordability and access to housing. This session will showcase housing three different co-op models and the power and potential of the model to meet community needs.
Victoria Clark-West, Northcountry Cooperative Foundation
Natividad Seefeld, Park Plaza Cooperative
Dennis Johnson, Cooperative Housing Resources
Gunnar Carlson, Riverton Community Housing
Childcare: Humanities 211
It is known and felt deeply by many that childcare is not working well in our country. Families struggle with affordability and access, employers are challenged to find employees yet childcare businesses need to be able to pay a living wage to their employees. This session will feature employer owned and worker owned childcare models and the solutions these provide along with the challenges that remain.
Nancy Johnson, Retired, Cooperator and Childcare Specialist
Gillian Hornberger and Jac Kovarik, Paper moon Childcare Cooperative
Erin Laverdure, Energy Capital Cooperative Child Care
Maria Steen, CAPLP Child Care Connections
Small business changes: Humanities 11
Minnesota is experiencing a wave of retiring business owners, many of which are small businesses critical to the fabric of our economy, that don’t have viable buyers. One powerful solution this session will focus on is selling our business to your employees to retain jobs, business, legacy and receive a fair price.
Kirsten Kennedy, Minnesota Center for Employee Ownership
Dave Abbott, Terra Firma
John Dally, Cooperative Veterinary Care Vet Care
Energy and climate: Science 1030
Rural electric cooperatives are long-time staples of Minnesota’s economy and infrastructure. This session will showcase their role along with newer models such as community-owned solar and guide us to dream of future green technologies that can also be cooperatively-owned and support local communities.
Troy Goodnough, University of Minnesota Morris
Charlie Rybak, Cooperative Energy Futures
Tom Lambrecht, Great River Energy
Mike Reese, West Central Regional Outreach Center
Agriculture: Science 1020
The landscape for agriculture is ever changing but right now the negative effects of consolidation and monopolies are felt deeply in all aspects of running a farm. This session will focus on two new cooperatives formed to solve some of these challenges and serve as a middle ground between the mass produced and small niche businesses of farmers markets.
Ariel Kagan and Justin Stofferahn, Minnesota Farmers Union
Kelsey Zaavedra, Heirloomista
Heidi Hoff, Meatsmith Co-op
Homecare, health care, and social services: Humanities 205
Across the country, communities are grappling with workforce shortages, inequitable access, and unsustainable service models in home care, health care, and social services. This session explores how home care and health care cooperatives, owned and governed by workers, consumers, or community members, are offering bold, people-centered alternatives.
Electra Skrzydlewski, Minnesota Consortium of Community Developers
Brittney Kline, Advocate Care Solutions
Diane Prickett, Minnesota Lifestyle Solutions
Marie Barry, Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative
3:15pm Break
3:30 pm Wrap-up Activity: What This Means for Minnesota - Oyate Hall
Taking into account the lessons we have learned from the international cooperative movement, what is possible and what is most needed for this moment in Minnesota.
Kelly Asche, Senior Researcher at the Center for Rural Policy and Development
Katie Marty and Victoria Clark-West, CoMinnesota
4:15 pm Closing Reception Happy Hour - Lawn outside Oyate Hall
Close with a toast to the possibilities and learning generated during the Summit. Sponsored by Broken Clock Brewing Cooperative and Cooperative Development Services (in honor of their 40th anniversary this year)!
5:30 pm Adjourn