Webinar – Stronger Together: Cooperative Models

[Katie Allison]

Webinar – Stronger Together: Cooperative Models​

Cooperatives can be powerful economic development tools, anchored in local ownership, community wealth‑building, and long‑term regional resilience. This webinar explored how cooperative models can help communities respond to disruption, retain jobs, and reposition key industries for growth.

Hear from Doug O’Brien, Executive Director of the National Cooperative Business Association, and learn from a real‑world case study in Central Virginia’s poultry sector. Following the 2023 closure of Tyson Foods’ Glen Allen facility, regional partners rapidly mobilized to support hundreds of displaced poultry growers. Through coordinated planning, funding, and technical assistance, they helped launch the Central Virginia Poultry Cooperative, a farmer‑owned enterprise that secured a long‑term supply agreement and preserved a critical regional industry.

This session offered practical insights into how cooperative strategies can strengthen regional economies, support producers, and turn economic shocks into opportunities for successful economic development.

Click here for this webinar's slides.
Additional Resources:

• NCBA Cooperative Impact Report (https://impact.coop/media/3gxmtdec/437925-3-_23_ncba-impact-report-2025_wr.pdf)
• Cooperative Development Network – Member Locator (https://cooperationworks.coop/member-locator/#cwnetwork)
• Strategies for an Inclusive Economy (https://ncbaclusa.coop/content/uploads/2020/10/Policy-Strategies-for-an-Inclusive-Economy-Oct-2020.pdf)
• Resources for worker co-op conversions (https://institute.coop/conversions-cooperative-and-business-transition)
• Worker owned business video (https://www.pbs.org/video/worker-owned-businesses-abapo0/)

NADO Resources:

• Keeping Wealth Close to Home: How Economic Development Districts Can Promote Local Prosperity
  
  
• Chicken Before the Egg: How Central Virginia Poultry Farmers Turned a Crisis into a Cooperative

This resource is offered through the Economic Development District Community of Practice (EDD CoP), managed by the NADO Research Foundation to build the capacity of the national network of EDDs. To learn more, visit: www.nado.org/EDDCoP. The EDD CoP is made possible through an award from the U.S. Economic Development Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce (ED22HDQ3070106). The statements, findings, conclusions, and recommendations in this resource are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Economic Development Administration or the U.S. Department of Commerce.

• June 25, 2026

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