La Conner Weekly News - Your independent hometown award-winning newspaper

October is international co-op month. Co-ops in countries across the world, in big cities and rural counties, are celebrating their successes in serving their members. They are championing their example of getting along: mutual cooperation. They are offering an alternative model of business ownership: equal equity. And they are proving that a different ownership structure – democratic governance – works.

In Japan, 91 percent of farmers belong to co-ops; 95 percent of New Zealand’s milk is from co-op dairies. Over 36 percent of Denmark’s consumer retail market is co-ops. Almo...