Lori Capouch

Rural Development Director, retired

North Dakota Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives (NDAREC)

Lori Capouch has championed rural and frontier co-op development in North Dakota for over three decades at the North Dakota Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives (NDAREC), the only statewide electric cooperative association in the nation to operate a cooperative development center.

Congratulatory Listings

Congratulations, Lori, on your induction into the National Cooperative Hall of Fame. Your visionary leadership and decades of service to rural development have impacted communities across North Dakota and beyond. This honor is a fitting tribute to your legacy.

Congratulations, Lori, on your induction into the Cooperative Hall of Fame! Your visionary leadership and dedication to empowering rural communities in North Dakota and beyond have left an indelible mark. CFC is inspired by your
commitment to collaboration, innovation, and service. Thank you for championing rural development and showing us what is possible when co-ops work together. We celebrate your well-deserved honor and legacy!

Congratulations on your induction to the Co-op Hall of Fame, Lori! Your leadership and innovation, especially in rural food distribution and rural childcare, will leave
a lasting impact on North Dakota and cooperatives in rural communities across the country. CoBank thanks you for your contributions to this work and commends you on your many accomplishments.

Congratulations, Lori!

Lori, your impact on rural North Dakota and cooperative development is profound. You’ve uplifted countless individuals, communities, and organizations — many of whom proudly stand with you and celebrate your achievements and offer their heartfelt congratulations. With sincere appreciation, we say thank you. The following proudly join in recognizing you:

Broadband Association of North Dakota
Burke-Divide Electric Cooperative
Consolidated Telcom
Dakota Central
Dakota Valley Electric Cooperative
McLean Electric Cooperative
Minnkota Power Cooperative
Mountrail-Williams Electric Cooperative
National Information Solutions Cooperative
NCC
Nodak Electric Cooperative

North Central Electric Cooperative
North Dakota Farmers Union
Northern Plains Electric Cooperative
Polar Communications
Red River Communications
Roughrider Electric Cooperative
RTC Networks
Slope Electric Cooperative
United and Turtle Mountain Communications
Verendrye Electric Cooperative
WRT

Congratulations, Lori, on your well-deserved induction into the Hall of Fame! You’ve been a champion for rural communities. Your dedication to and innovation of the cooperative model has left an indelible mark on the practice of cooperative development in the US.

CooperationWorks!

Margaret Bau

Nebraska Cooperative Development Center

On behalf of North Dakota’s Electric Cooperatives and Rural Development
Finance Corporation, congratulations and thank you. You devoted your career to
championing issues that others often overlooked working tirelessly on the front
lines to improve rural quality of life — leading efforts to provide better access to
food, child care, health care, and essential services. Your dedication has made a
meaningful and lasting impact. Our cooperatives, along with the members and
communities we serve, are undoubtedly better because of you.

Congratulations to Lori Capouch, 2025 Cooperative Hall of Fame inductee. Lori is a lifelong champion of rural co-op development in North Dakota, including for 26 years at the North Dakota Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives. Cooperatives and rural communities couldn’t have asked for a better advocate.
Congratulations, Lori, and enjoy your well-earned retirement!

Friends of Lori Capouch

Cathy Statz
E. Kim Coontz
Judy Ziewacz
Julie Bosland
Karen Zimbelman

Kevin Edberg

Kirstie Boyette
Marilyn Scholl

Mary Griffin
Michelle Schry
Rosemary Mahoney
William J. Nelson

Co-op Champion

Lori has championed rural and frontier co-op development in North Dakota for over three decades. Lori began her official co-op career at the North Dakota Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives (NDAREC), the only statewide electric cooperative association in the country to operate a cooperative development center. During her first year, NDAREC invested in Lori’s professional development by sending her to a leadership course composed of people from around the world. She learned that when a sector experiences challenges and is in need of change, the catalyst for change typically comes from outside of the sector. Lori then realized that she could be the catalyst that can help people address challenges through cooperatives.

Early Life

Growing up in a small, tight knit town that valued working together, and community spirit and pride, Lori Capouch’s parents demonstrated that participation is the key ingredient to a healthy community. Through her father and co-op hero, Lori learned about cooperative values at an early age and observed him apply those principles at work, home, and the community.

She learned about the struggles tied to population decline in rural communities that led to loss of critical services like hospitals and daycare. More importantly, she learned how those losses inspire people to work together and help themselves keep what they need to live a comfortable life. This was a life lesson she took to heart and spurred a career dedicated to rural community wellbeing and development through cooperatives.

Contributions to the Development and Growth of RE&T and RDFC

Self-described as a hopeless introvert, Lori’s high school teachers selected her for the Danforth “I Dare You Award.” They dared her to be a leader, which surprised her. This dare helped her to reach beyond her comfort zone and recognize her ability to lead.

Years later at NDAREC, Lori directed the Rural Electric and Telecommunications (RE&T) Cooperative Development Center and the Rural Development Finance Corporation (RDFC), which are supported by the NDAREC, Broadband Association of North Dakota, 17 electric distribution cooperatives, and 12 telecommunications cooperatives. She was instrumental in establishing RDFC’s $9 million revolving loan fund, as well as the North Dakota Rural Electric Cooperatives Foundation, which continues to fund cooperative development across the state. As of 2024, RDFC has awarded 148 community development loans totaling approximately $13.7 million, created nearly 300 jobs, and leveraged more than $145 million in North Dakotan towns.

Not a bad track record for a hopeless introvert turned high-impact leader.

Creating Opportunities for Ranchers, Producers, and Food Access

In 2023, Lori Capouch wrote and won a $10 million grant through the USDA’s Meat and Poultry Intermediary Lending Program to create a revolving loan fund to support meat processing capacity in North Dakota. In the same year, her research on issues of rural food access prompted the state legislature to appropriate $1 million for a rural food access pilot grant program. The establishment of the Rural Access Distribution Cooperative, the first-known rural food access and distribution co-op in the United States, is her proudest achievement.

“It was the first time I worked with a region successfully, working together, and it was very risky,” said Lori. “It took on the issue of distribution at a time when nobody else was and a few of us were called crazy.”

The model she created is now being studied and replicated elsewhere – including in the urban community of the Bronx, NY.

Tackling the Childcare Crisis

The childcare crisis has been rippling through communities for years with challenges ranging from limited to no childcare access to hiring and retaining workers. Dedicated to rural community wellbeing and development, Lori Capouch extended her expertise and energy to forming childcare cooperatives.

Lori and her team spent more than a decade documenting childcare issues. She took resources like handbooks, templates, and toolkits on cooperative models in childcare shared by cooperators in California and revised them for use in North Dakota. More than a dozen local communities have benefited from her assistance to build childcare capacity, which included helping establish the first employer-assisted childcare cooperative in North Dakota. Energy Capital Cooperative Child Care opened in May 2017 with the capacity to care for 77 children from infant to 12 years old.

Success is Saying Goodbye

The secret to the success of North Dakotan cooperatives is its people, and Lori Capouch is truly one of the best. In Lori’s view, success is saying goodbye. Her work is finished when she is no longer needed. Her projects have momentum and rural people have the energy to continue to build on successes.

“You can’t force people to have your same passions, but you hope that some of the things you started continue,” said Lori. “The work isn’t done. It’s hard to step back, but there are people out there interested in the work, so it will continue.”

Lori’s father always said, “You know, Lori, you should try working for the co-ops.” At that time, Lori didn’t even know cooperative development existed. Fast forward decades later, generations of North Dakotans have benefited and will benefit from healthy food access, quality childcare, and economic opportunities that her innovation and dedication has enabled.

Aspiring Early Entrepreneur

Lori Capouch’s work has taken her to tribal, frontier, and the most remote communities in North Dakota. She’s earned visibility in the state legislature and media for her pursuit of quality of life in rural America. Her contributions to improving the lives of rural people using the cooperative model is nothing short of heroic.

However, at an early age, Lori aspired to be an entrepreneur. At four years old, Funny Face, a competitor to Kool Aid, sent out coloring competition flyers where the grand prize was your own Funny Face drink stand. Lori entered the competition and had grand visions of setting up her stand on their corner lot with lines of people waiting to buy a drink from her. Her dreams were put on hold when she didn’t win the competition. For her 30th birthday, her parents gifted her with her very own drink stand.

The First North Dakotan Woman in the Cooperative Hall of Fame

Lori Capouch’s work has proven that the cooperative model can be a viable solution to frontier and rural places, where the free market has had trouble serving. Her own measure of success is saying goodbye to the cooperatives she helped.

For being the boots-on-the-ground but behind-the scenes leader in North Dakota cooperative development Lori Capouch will be honored with induction into the Cooperative Hall of Fame. Join us in Washington, DC on October 9 as we celebrate Lori and her contributions to the cooperative community.

Honoring and Planning Committee

Brian Gion . Cally Peterson
Chris Gessele . Clarice Kesler
Ellen Huber . Josh Kramer
Krista Rausch . Mary Helvig
Melinda Landis

Nominated by:

North Dakota Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives (NDAREC)