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Cooperatives and Consortia
Cooperatives and consortia have been around for many years. The 500 year-old Mennonite tradition of gathering for a barn-raising is one example of a long tradition of cooperative effort for the common good. The Desjardin societies of Canada offered the equivalent of barn-raising in the financial field as the first credit unions. These societies for credit developed because bankers were unwilling to risk lending to Canadian farmers and community merchants. So the farmers and merchants pooled their funds to lend to each other. Those members who had some extra money got better returns by getting the interest on loans rather than savings accounts and members who needed them got loans. In history, this resort to cooperative effort has often been necessary. Where the risks are high or the returns are too low, cooperatives are created that create a new market or create vital infrastructure.
The West (or midwest, at least) was not won by armies, railroads and corporations, but by the efforts of electrification, silo grain storage and farm loan groups. All of these impressive infrastructure investments were capitalized and implemented by cooperatives and all found opportunity and wealth where capitalists feared to go.
NP-it, LLC - our cooperative - offers technology, information services and collective purchasing power for an under-served market -- small to medium non-profits. We will probably not win the West, but we hope that we can win your business and your willingness to cooperate for our common good.