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About Our Ranch and Home Cooperative - Poudre Valley COOP in Fort Collins, CO
Since Poudre Valley COOP is your local Fort Collins farm store, you should probably know its story. Poudre Valley COOP was founded as an agricultural supply cooperative in 1947 at 400 Linden Street. Poudre Valley COOP moved to its present location at 225 North West Frontage Road in 1976. Poudre Valley COOP currently has over 3500 members throughout Larimer, Weld, Adams, and Boulder counties.
What is a Co-Op?
A cooperative, otherwise known as a co-operative or co-op, is a business organization owned and operated by individuals for a collective good. The International Cooperative Alliance defines a co-op as “an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through jointly owned and democratically controlled enterprise.” A cooperative is a business owned and controlled by the people who use its services or those who work there.
Poudre Valley COOP is an agricultural cooperative or a farmers’ co-op. More specifically, it is a farm supply cooperative, which means we supply our members with products and services for agricultural production, including fuel, seeds, fertilizers, auto/machinery repair, and a farm supply store.
Poudre Valley COOP follows four basic principles of operation:
- OPEN MEMBERSHIP: Membership is voluntary and does not regard race, religion, sex, age, or partisan politics.
- DEMOCRATIC CONTROL: Cooperatives are member-owned and controlled by a member-elected board of directors.
- PATRONAGE REFUNDS: This principle is the heart of the cooperative business. Poudre Valley COOP exists solely to meet its members' needs for goods and services. When Poudre Valley COOP has a profit left over at the end of the fiscal year, we may distribute the owners’ share of the profit back to them as a patronage refund. These profits are distributed in direct proportion to a co-op member’s patronage (purchases).
- LIMITED OR NO INTEREST ON EQUITY CAPITAL: This principle ensures that control of Poudre Valley COOP will remain in the hands of all the members. Control cannot be seized by an individual or a small group of investors.
Call us at 970-221-5300 to learn more about the history and mission of Poudre Valley COOP.