Cooperative Development Hall of Fame - Jason Dixson Photography - 190508 - 185804 - 1038.j

Our Sponsors

Thank you for your support of the 2021 Cooperative Hall of Fame. There is no better way to tell the cooperative story than through the life experiences of our cooperative heroes - individuals like Clark Arrington, Vern Dosch, Andrew Reicher, and Karen Zimbelman. We are proud to host the Cooperative Hall of Fame, which not only recognizes the cooperative movement's genuinely heroic leaders, but also raises funds to support CDF's economic and cooperative development work. Now on its 76th year, CDF continues its commitment to support new and expanding cooperative enterprises to increase public awareness of the significant contributions made by cooperatives to the nation's and world's economies.

Hall of Fame Sponsor

CoBank

CoBank, a national cooperative bank serving vital industries across rural America and member of the Farm Credit System is pleased to sponsor the 2021 Cooperative Hall of Fame. The success of Farm Credit - a national network of cooperatively organized banks and lending associations specifically chartered to serve agriculture and rural America - depends on the leadership of committed, far-sighted men and women who understand the challenges and opportunities facing the country's rural communities. We congratulate the 2021 inductees for the extraordinary contributions they have made to the cooperative community.

Hall of Fame Sponsor

Gallagher Affordable Housing Practice

Hall of Fame Sponsor

National Cooperative Bank

National Cooperative Bank is proud to sponsor the 2021 Cooperative Hall of Fame. We would like to congratulate Clark Arrington, Vern Dosch, Andy Reicher and Karen Zimbelman on this prestigious honor. Thank you for your dedication and commitment to the cooperative community.

National Cooperative Bank (NCB) provides comprehensive banking products and services to cooperatives, their members and other socially responsible organizations throughout the country. What makes NCB unique is that the bank was created to address the financial needs of an underserved market niche — people who join together cooperatively to meet personal, social or business needs, especially in low-income communities. Customers that choose NCB create impact in the areas they care about — affordable housing, access to healthy food, small business, community health care and renewable energy. Your choices reflect your values. Your bank should, too.

Hall of Fame Sponsor

National Co+op Grocers

National Co+op Grocers (NCG) celebrates all four 2021 Cooperative Hall of Fame inductees and, in particular, wishes to honor and congratulate a co-op legend, Karen Zimbelman. KZ has provided dedicated leadership and service to cooperatives in multiple sectors for more than 40 years and was an early innovator in the local, regional and national food co-op movement.

KZ’s sincerity, intensity and zeal for the movement is evident in the way she builds and protects the integrity of cooperatives, particularly through education on the cooperative business model. In her own words, “the purpose of a co-op is broader than can be measured solely by pure business standards. Different co-op schools of thinking exist, but they all share some acknowledgement of the fact that co-ops exist for social purposes as well — to provide a service valuable for members, to provide consumer control in an economic sector, to bring honesty and integrity into the marketplace, to build a business that is community oriented rather than profit oriented, to build economic institutions focused on social justice, and/or to provide democratic ownership and control of the business form.”

KZ demonstrates her commitment to the Cooperative Principles on a daily basis. This well-deserved honor recognizes the enduring impact she has had on food co-ops and the entire cooperative sector.

KZ, you are an inspiration to all of us at NCG. Thank you for being a co-op hero!

Hall of Fame Sponsor

National Rural Electric Cooperative Association

Congratulations to 2021 Cooperative Hall of Fame inductees Vern Dosch, Clark Arrington, Andrew Reicher and Karen Zimbelman.

These exemplary leaders embody the cooperative principles in the fields of cooperative education, workforce, technology, housing, and economic development. NRECA especially recognizes the leadership of our long-time colleague Vern Dosch and his unyielding commitment to advancing data and technology solutions under the cooperative model.

The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association is the national trade association representing nearly 900 local electric cooperatives. From growing suburbs to remote farming communities, electric co-ops serve as engines of economic development for 42 million Americans across 56 percent of the nation’s landscape. As local businesses built by the consumers they serve, electric cooperatives have meaningful ties to rural America and invest $12 billion annually in their communities.

Hall of Fame Sponsor

National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation

CFC proudly salutes Clark Arrington, Vern Dosch, Andrew Reicher, and Karen Zimbelman on their induction into the Cooperative Hall of Fame. Created and owned by America’s electric cooperative network, CFC, a nonprofit finance cooperative with approximately $27 billion in assets, provides capital and industry-leading financial products to serve the needs of our member-owners—America’s 900-plus not-for-profit, consumer-controlled electric cooperatives.

CFC operates under the seven cooperative principles and our core values of Service, Integrity and Excellence. By delivering unparalleled industry expertise, flexibility and responsiveness, we help our members maintain a sophisticated system of generation, transmission and distribution resources that spans 75 percent of the United States. This infrastructure provides a safe, reliable and affordable flow of power to 42 million consumers each day and plays a critical role in boosting the nation’s economy and rural quality of life.

Hall of Fame Sponsor

Nationwide

Nationwide is proud to be a long-standing sponsor of the Cooperative Hall of Fame and celebrates the outstanding 2021 class of inductees.

As a company founded on cooperative principles and with several former leaders as Hall of Fame members, Nationwide remains committed to supporting the ideals of the cooperative movement and the Hall of Fame.

In 1926, Nationwide was started by innovative thinkers with the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation. These visionary leaders knew the importance of cooperative enterprise when they formed the company to provide affordable automobile insurance for rural farmer members. One of those early leaders, Murray Lincoln, eventually helped spread cooperative ideals across the globe.

Today, cooperative principles remain an important part of Nationwide’s culture and foundation. The company continues to be guided by farmers on its board of directors and remains owned by its policyholders. As a part of the cooperative family, Nationwide is proud to be here to protect people, businesses and futures with extraordinary care.

CHS Inc.

CHS Inc., a leading global agribusiness owned by farmers, ranchers and cooperatives across the United States, is pleased to sponsor the 2021 Cooperative Hall of Fame. Diversified in energy, grains and foods, CHS is committed to helping its customers, farmer-owners and other stakeholders grow their businesses through its domestic and global operations. CHS is committed to extending the positive impact of the cooperative system to make a meaningful difference in agriculture and our hometown communities.

Congratulations to this year’s Cooperative Hall of Fame inductees; we applaud you for your innovation and strong leadership in advancing the cooperative business model.

Seed Commons

Seed Commons couldn’t be more proud to sponsor the Cooperative Hall of Fame, nor could we be more proud of this year’s inductees, including our own Senior Fellow Clark Arrington.

Seed Commons is a cooperatively-governed national Community Development Financial Institution whose peer members are grassroots organizations that work to enrich their communities through non-extractive finance. Our almost thirty members work together to leverage the power of big finance to support worker cooperatives and other community-based initiatives. We are guided by the grassroots and share capital and resources to support local cooperative businesses to build the infrastructure necessary for a truly just, democratic, and sustainable new economy.

Our rapidly expanding network supports more than fifty cooperatives around the country, who in turn provide democratic workplaces to more than 3,000 people. Through our commitment to non-extraction and community-led decision making, we’ve been able to get financing into the hands of those who need it most. We are hard at work reversing the process of economic extraction that prevents so many communities from enjoying the wealth they produce.