Montana’s Cooperative Legacy and Our Future
The story of Montana is a story of cooperation. Long before terms like "shared ownership" and "stakeholder economy" became common, Montanans were coming together to build the infrastructure, businesses, and financial institutions they needed to thrive. Today, as we build CoBuild Montana, we are not inventing something new; we are growing from these deep, resilient roots.
Understanding this legacy is essential to our mission. It shows us that when faced with market gaps, geographic isolation, or a need for local control, cooperation is a powerful and proven Montana solution. This history informs our model, inspires our work, and reminds us that building together is in our DNA. By learning from the past, we can build a more resilient and equitable future for the next generation of Montana’s communities.
A Brief History of Cooperation in Montana
Across the state, the cooperative model has been a practical tool for solving shared problems. It has empowered communities to create essential services and build economic power where traditional markets failed to deliver.
This spirit is perhaps most visible across our rural landscapes with electric cooperatives. When investor-owned utilities wouldn't extend lines to remote farms and ranches, communities organized. Neighbors pooled their resources, secured financing, and built the electric grid themselves, bringing light and power to rural Montana. These member-owned utilities still power vast portions of our state, demonstrating a commitment to universal service over profit.
Similarly, producer cooperatives have been a cornerstone of Montana’s agricultural economy for generations. Farmers and ranchers formed co-ops to collectively market their crops, purchase supplies at a better price, and gain access to processing facilities. By banding together, they achieved a scale and market power that would be impossible for any single producer, ensuring more of the value they created stayed in their hands and their communities.
In our towns and cities, credit unions emerged as an alternative to traditional banks. They were founded on the principle of "people helping people," offering fair loans and accessible financial services to members who were often overlooked by larger institutions. As member-owned financial cooperatives, their focus has always been on the financial well-being of their members, not on maximizing shareholder returns.
More recently, food co-ops have become vital community hubs. They provide access to healthy, locally sourced food and create reliable markets for local producers. These grocery stores are owned and governed by the people who shop there, ensuring their offerings reflect the community’s values and needs.
What We Can Learn from Our Cooperative Legacy
This rich history offers powerful lessons that directly shape the work we are doing at CoBuild Montana today. These are not just historical footnotes; they are guiding principles for building durable, community-centered enterprises.
Local Control Matters: At their core, all these cooperatives are about communities taking control of their economic destiny. Instead of waiting for an outside company to solve a problem, Montanans built the solutions themselves. This principle of local control ensures that decisions are made by the people most affected by them, keeping businesses accountable to the community they serve.
There is Strength in Shared Risk: Starting a new venture or building major infrastructure is risky. The cooperative model allows community members to share that risk, making ambitious projects possible. By pooling resources, knowledge, and effort, the burden on any single individual is reduced, and the collective capacity for success is dramatically increased.
Patient Capital Builds Lasting Value: Cooperatives operate on a different timeline than traditional startups seeking a quick exit. They are built for the long term, using patient capital that prioritizes stability and community benefit over rapid, extractive returns. This approach allows businesses to grow sustainably and become permanent assets for the community.
Cooperation Bridges the Service Gap: Time and again, cooperatives have emerged to provide essential services in places where the market saw no profit, especially in rural areas. This legacy proves that a cooperative framework is uniquely suited to solving challenges in communities that are often underserved, from broadband and energy to food access and business succession.
From Legacy to the Next Generation
CoBuild Montana extends this powerful cooperative legacy to meet the challenges of our modern economy. We are applying these time-tested principles to the world of venture creation, technology, and business succession. Our goal is to make the cooperative option a clear, accessible, and well-supported choice for today’s entrepreneurs and business owners.
When a founder launches a new venture through our pipeline, we provide the tools to build it on a foundation of shared ownership from day one. This means the business is designed to create wealth not just for its founders, but for its employees, customers, and the community that supports it. It’s a direct challenge to the conventional startup model that often results in wealth being extracted from the community upon a sale or acquisition.
For legacy business owners nearing retirement, our Community Ownership Conversions program offers a powerful alternative to selling to an out-of-state buyer. We provide a structured path to transition ownership to employees or a community group. This keeps the business, its jobs, and its profits rooted locally, preserving a vital community asset for the next generation. It is the modern application of ensuring local control and keeping value where it was created.
How You Can Participate in the Next Chapter
This legacy is not something to simply admire; it is something to actively build upon. You can be part of writing the next chapter of Montana’s cooperative story.
Become a Founding Member: By joining the cooperative, you become a co-owner of this platform and directly support the growth of community-owned ventures across the state.
Explore a Business Conversion: If you are a business owner thinking about your succession plan, learn how a cooperative conversion can secure your legacy and benefit your community.
Launch a Community-Owned Venture: If you have an idea for a business that solves a community problem, our pipeline provides the support you need to bring it to life.
Join Us at the Summit: Our annual CoBuild Summit is where this movement comes together. It’s a place to learn, connect, and participate in the formal launch of our statewide cooperative.
Writing the Future, Together
Montana’s history of cooperation provides us with a blueprint for a more inclusive and resilient economy. It shows us what is possible when people come together with a shared purpose. As we stand on the shoulders of the farmers, ranchers, and community leaders who built our state’s first cooperatives, we invite you to join us in this vital work. Together, we can build the next generation of enterprises that will define Montana for decades to come.
