Quentin Burdick Center for Cooperatives QBCC---Update on Recent Activities, January to December, 2003 Nelson will be retiring as director of the Center on Margaret Lougheed continues as the communication specialist and researcher for the Center. She is responsible for the Center newsletter, web page and preparing promotional information on the conferences and workshops organized by the Center. She is currently conducting research on marketing of hybrid striped bass, including the grower interest and feasibility of a market information cooperative. RECOGNIZATIONS Nelson received a Certificate of Appreciation from the American Coalition for Ethanol at the annual awards banquet on July 30 at Sioux Falls, SD. ACE certificates of appreciation are presented each year to honor those who have and continue to make a difference in the ethanol industry. Lance Gaebe, agricultural advisor to Governor Hoeven, was the other North Dakotan to receive a certificate. The Chamber of Commerce of Fargo/Moorhead for the Greater North Dakota Association Agricultural Award also nominated Nelson. Selection of the winner occurs in the spring 2004.This award recognizes innovative leadership contributions in agriculture and/or agri-business on the state and/or national level. RESEARCH PROPOSALS IN PROCESS
OR SUBMITTED QBCC was contacted by Georgetown University in the spring of 2003 and invited to prepare a proposal to train 20 young cooperative leaders for five months in the winter of 2003-04. The proposal was prepared and submitted. QBCC made it to the final two, however the program went to Texas A & M University QBCC participated in a major proposal, $2.6 million, on Carbon Sequestration that was submitted to USDA. Most of the proposal was biology/chemistry based. QBCC's portion was to analyze the social and economic feasibility of creating and operating a landowner owned and controlled cooperative that would be the intermediary between landowners willing and able to sell carbon storage credits and industries required to reduce carbon emissions or to buy carbon storage credits. A much-reduced version of this project was submitted to APUC. It has not been funded yet, but efforts are moving forward to solicit other funds to initiate the project. QBCC has a major portion of a project submitted to USDA to fund the feasibility of processing vegetable purees and dehydrated powders in North Dakota. A federal grant of $54,400 was awarded through the ND Department of Agriculture. However the grant requires matching funds, currently $32,000 short. Two attempts to obtain matching funds from APUC were unsuccessful. Efforts are moving forward to solicit other grant or investment funds to initiate the project. The second and third years of the cooperative marketing project on Hybrid Striped Bass were funded at the $46,350. ONGOING RESEARCH The "Marketing Study of Hybrid Striped Bass" was submitted through the North Central Regional Aquaculture Center (NCRAC), Michigan. It has a total budget of $60,000 and includes the analyzing the feasibility of a market information cooperative composed of producers. This proposal has been funded for the 2002 to 2004 period. The first major accomplishment has been to develop a comprehensive web page on all aspects of HSB production, marketing and consumption. The page will be useful to all segments of the industry and will form the research database for much of the remaining parts of the study. The web page will be supported by NCRAC at http://aquanic.org. It currently can be accessed at: http://ag.ansc.purdue.edu/aquanic/hsb/index/final%20frontpage.htm. One component of the study will be the feasibility of developing web-based market information cooperative for HSB producers. USDA/CS funded project on the "Training Needs of Traditional Local Cooperatives". This project is conducted in collaboration with University of Wisconsin and Montana State University. Two phases are nearly completed, a survey of directors and an analysis of changes in industry structure. The final phase, development of training materials has been initiated. This is aimed at development of strategic planning materials to be used by local cooperatives in planning their long-term strategies. This project is completed and final report forthcoming in 2004. USDA/CS funded project on the "Evaluation of Financial Strategies of New Generation Cooperatives (NGC)". The purpose of this project is to evaluate alternative equity management strategies upon the long-term financial performance and stability of NGCs. A spreadsheet model for estimating cooperative financial statements over a ten-year or more time period has been completed and is being reviewed for accuracy. Background information on processing efficiencies, input costs, and output volumes and prices from cooperatives are being collected. It will be entered into the model to estimate the range and probability of profit potential. This project is completed and two reports forthcoming in 2004. The first will be the financial management and strategic planning model with a users guide. The second will contain an analysis of several financial strategies based on thesis research. USDA/CS funded project on the "Equity Management Issues in New Generation Cooperatives". This project was initiated under the leadership of William Nganje. It focuses on stock values of NGCs, their relationship to income allocation decisions of the cooperative, and long-term equity management issues. USDA/CS Project on "A Comprehensive Feasibility Study of Production Level Cooperatives. A summary of current research and current production level cooperatives has been completed. Analysis of the production enterprises and functions, which have potential, is being conducted. A survey instrument to estimate producer interest in various types of production level cooperatives was placed on the Internet late summer through a service called Zoomerang. Response has been under-whelming and other means to obtain responses are in progress. This project will be completed in 2004. North Central Regional Aquaculture Center--Conducting a marketing study on the demand for Hybrid Walleye and Sunfish in conjunction with Michigan State University and Illinois State University. The final report has been submitted to the Center. A draft of the major publication has been completed. This project will be completed in 2004. EDUCATION & OUTREACH Executive Training Programs January 15: QBCC organized a pre-session to the 2003 Market-Place of Ideas, "Keys to Successfully Contracting with Consultants". About 25 people attended the session. Content and speakers were: The Request for Proposal-You Only Get What You Asked for---Bill Nelson The Agraria Experience-Mark Watne Evaluating Responses and Selecting Consultants-Don Hofstrand The Legal Issues-Steve Noack Wrap-Up Roundtable-all presenters March 16-17: A Cooperative Leaders Roundtable on "Should Your Cooperative Seek Non-Patron Equity Capital" was cancelled due to only 25 registrants. Two significant time conflicts affected registrations. March 19 and 26: American Coalition for Ethanol Director Workshops in Watertown and Mankato. Approximately 40 persons attended the Watertown session and over 60 persons were at the Mankato session. QBCC assisted in the organization of the workshops and presentations. The sessions and speakers were: Roles, Responsibilities and Evaluation of Directors-Bill Nelson Finances and Financial Statements-John Christianson Legal Responsibilities-Jim Wiederrich April 2: Randall Torgerson presented the Bloomquist Lecture at the
Holiday Inn in Fargo. Dr. Torgerson spent 27 years as the administrator of the Cooperative
Services, USDA before retiring in January 2003. American Crystal Sugar Cooperative and the
Regional Economy Committee of the Chamber of Commerce of Fargo-Moorhead cosponsored it. He
also spoke to the cooperatives class and visited with agribusiness faculty. November 5: QBCC accepted an invitation by the National Business Cooperative Association to offer the session on non-patron equity capital as a pre-session to their fall Cooperative Development Conference. It was shortened to a one-day conference. Sixty persons attended the session. The content and speakers were: *History of the Issue: Bill Nelson *Non-Member Capital Alternatives and Expectations Related to Return-Robert Doane, CoBank *Non-Member Capital Investment and Impact on Returns and Risk of Patrons-William Nganje, Bill Nelson and Frayne Olson, QBCC *Non-Member Capital & Cooperative Governance and Control-Michael Cook, University of Missouri *The Legal and Social Impacts of Non-Member Capital-James Baarda, USDA Cooperative Services Reaction Panel-Mark Hanson, Lindquist & Vennum, PLLP, and David Swanson, Dorsey & Whitney, LLP Outreach January 16: QBCC had a booth at the annual Market-Place of Ideas, Grand Forks. February 7-9: Nelson presented the Economics and Marketing annual report at the planning meeting of the North Central Regional Aquaculture Center, East Lansing Michigan. A new NCRAC funded project will analyze the feasibility of developing a regional marketing/processing cooperative for aquaculture. Nelson wrote the request for proposals. The study is being conducted by Southern Illinois University. February 14-17: The first College Conference on Cooperatives sponsored jointly by Montana and North Dakota was held in Bozeman. About 15 university students from North Dakota attended. Nelson served on the planning committee for the conference. Spring through Fall: Olson first and then Nelson have served on the planning committee for the new Rural Leadership Program. Twenty-seven young ND rural leaders will participate in a two-year leadership development program. The first session was held on November 20-22 at Carrington. May 3: Nelson's proposal to the Chamber of Commerce of Fargo/Moorhead (FMCC) was adopted as part of the plan of work for the Regional Economy Committee. Nelson proposed that the Chamber organize and sponsor a university student showcase of business related projects--marketing plans, feasibility studies and business plans, and engineering and computer science projects as part of a means to increase communication among the "best and brightest" of our students and the business/manufacturing sectors. The ultimate goal is to retain more university graduates in the region. The planning for this event is ongoing. June 3: Nelson participated in the judging the FFA presentations and demonstrations. This is arranged through the FMCC. July 23-26: Nelson and Lougheed attended the Association of Cooperative Educators (ACE) annual meeting in Madison, Wisconsin. July 30: Nelson attended the annual meeting of the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) September 20-25: Nelson was an invited speaker at the Third Global Conference of the Global Consortium of Higher Education and Research for Agriculture in Kiev, Ukraine. The title of Nelson's presentation was "The Role of Centers and Institutes in Extension Programs". October: Nelson wrote an article on "Cooperative Values and Value" that was part of the Co-op month packet of materials. QBCC website is the distribution mode for Co-op month materials. October 14: Cosponsored a faculty luncheon with Dennis Hill, Executive-in-Residence with the College of Business. November 19: Nelson presented and led a discussion of research issues related to non-patron equity in cooperatives at a departmental "squaretable". QBCC was represented at the annual meetings of the National Council of Farmers Cooperatives (January, Olson), CoBank (February, Nelson), MinnDak Farmers Sugar Cooperative (December, Nelson) and North Dakota Farmers Union (December, Nelson). Education The redesigned 374 cooperatives course continued include a major emphasis on cooperative entrepreneurship. It was offered at NDSU (40 students) and Dickinson State (29students). Students were organized in six to ten person teams that selected a focus, conducted marketing and feasibility study, developed the business plan including articles of incorporation and bylaws, and completed the project with a one-hour equity drive presentation. Guest lecturers were Steve Noack-cooperative attorney, Randall Torgerson, Bloomquist Lecturer and the manager of Northland Federal Educators Credit Union. A set of readings available on the Internet has replaced the chapters of the draft textbook as the required reading assignments. Internships Management internships with cooperatives continue to be an area of concern. A $20,000 grant from the Farmers Union Foundation can reduce cash costs to hosting cooperatives so that cost shouldn't be a major issue. Organization and supervision time of the manager can be a difficult issue to overcome. The director of the QBCC will work with any interested cooperative to reduce this commitment. Training Programs There are no programs planned for Spring 2004. QBCC will continue to respond to training requests by individual cooperatives on a case-by-case basis. Outreach QBCC continues to respond to multiple inquiries per day on questions associated with cooperatives and cooperative development. Substantial effort continues to be placed on updating and improving the homepage, which stimulates many of the email requests. |
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