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UWCC Services

The University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives (UWCC) provides assistance to existing cooperatives, to groups interested in pursuing cooperative business activities, and to businesses considering conversion to cooperative ownership. We work across sectors and with all types and sizes of cooperatives including marketing, consumer, farm supply, purchasing, and multi-stakeholder cooperatives. UWCC staff can help groups compare business structures and determine whether the cooperative structure is right for them. Below is a basic outline of the types of technical assistance and tools UWCC offers. For inquiries regarding services or to discuss custom technical assistance or training needs, please contact Courtney Berner at cberner@wisc.edu.


Start-up and Emerging Cooperatives

    Center Staff
  • Organizational development including steering committee support and project management plan and timeline development
  • Pre-feasibility work including member surveys, community and stakeholder meetings, and development of sources and uses budgets
  • Assistance with feasibility assessments
  • Assistance with business plans and capitalization strategies
  • Membership drive and capitalization strategy development
  • Development of bylaws and articles of incorporation
  • Board training and policy development
  • Referrals to legal, accounting and other professional services providers

Established Cooperatives

  • Member training and education
  • Board training
  • Strategic planning
  • Assistance with business planning
  • Meeting facilitation
  • Board training and policy development
  • Board and management evaluations and 360 reviews
  • Merger facilitation and plan development
  • Referrals to appropriate legal, accounting, and other professional services

Succession Planning and Cooperatives Conversions

  • Transition planning and timeline development
  • Management and governance succession planning
  • Development of buyout plan
  • Referrals to appropriate legal, accounting, and other professional services

Fees for services are based on a sliding scale that takes into consideration a range of factors, including: size and revenue of cooperative, stage of development, project size and scope and prior knowledge of project. For questions regarding fees, please contact Courtney Berner at cberner@wisc.edu