Working to unite, promote and strengthen
cooperative businesses across Montana



Thank you to CHS Foundation and Reach Higher Montana, MCDC will be bringing on our first VISTA in August of 2021. The VISTA position will focus on developing a pre-apprenticeship program for Montana Cooperatives.

The Montana Cooperative Pre-Apprenticeship Program will develop and implement a pre-apprenticeship program for junior and senior high in rural communities for cooperative careers in partnership with the Montana Council of Cooperatives, Montana Registered Apprenticeship Program, the Montana Youth Apprenticeship Program, rural high schools, and other community partners. The program will prepare the student to enter the workforce and consider completing the apprenticeship program rather than traditional four-year education. The business served through the program will be engaging in developing their workforce and offer more education for the current and future employees. The results of this project are two-fold. First, the project will establish a pre-apprenticeship program for rural high school students to provide training and education for a high-wage job in their community. Second, it will also create a pipeline of employees and leadership for rural cooperatives and help keep rural Montana strong.

The VISTA position will be located in Helena Montana and due to the support of CHS and Reach Higher Montana, we are able to offer a housing stipend. We want to say thank you to Rural Dynamics for their support in bringing a VISTA to the Montana Cooperative Community.

To learn more visit the job listing. And, feel free to share in your networks!
Building Indigenous Community Resiliency through Cooperatives: A webinar

June 8th, 2021
1:00pm


Join Montana Cooperative Development Center, as we host a discussion with Pamela Standing, Executive Director at Minnesota Indigenous Business Alliance, and Sheldon Noel, about how the cooperative model is working within indigenous communities. Learning from examples, Sheldon and Pamela have created resources including the “Beginning the Cooperative Journey Together: A guide to Indigenous Community Cooperative Development’.

Thank you to the USDA- Rural Development Socially Disadvantaged Group Grant program for the funds to host this webinar. The webinar will be recorded and posted on the MCDC website by the end of the week.

Our team at Montana Cooperative Development Center and Montana Council of Cooperatives continue to follow the state efforts to release the CORONAVIRUS STATE & LOCAL FISCAL RECOVERY FUNDS. There is a lot of unknown right now but if you have a project you want to discuss with us please do so asap. Please email tracy@mcdc.coop to schedule a visit.

Tracy will be attending the Economic Transformation and Stabilization and Workforce Development Programs and Advisory Commission, and listening in to other Commission meetings within the next two weeks.

We urge all cooperatives in Montana looking at broadband, infrastructure improvements, partnering on local development projects, economic development, and more to keep a close eye on the Montana ARPA website (https://arpa.mt.gov). This website will be updated with the Commission meetings, grant and loan applications, and more.
Mark Your Calendars!
Co-op Night at the Great Falls Voyagers is August 27th, 2021

Stay tuned for more information and if your cooperative would like to be involved
Not in the Great Falls area but your Cooperative wants to do something similar near you? Call us!
We are exploring how to host these types of events across the State.
Regional Cooperative Days- Summer of 2021
Davey and Tracy won trivia night at the Wolf Point Brewery! We may of had some help from local teachers!
Tami Burke and Tori Matejovsky with Great Northern Development Corp were great hosts in Glasgow.
A stop into NorVal on a cold and snowy day.
The team did presentations on Co-ops 101 and then focused group conversations on Food Hub Cooperatives. This was our set up at Great Northern Development Corp's new community meeting room.
MCDC did our first Rural Cooperative Days- Regional Visits in North East/Eastern Montana April 12th to 18th. Glasgow to Glendive! Here we are with Jason Brothen from LYREC and Leslie Messer with Richland County Economic Development on a tour of the grid for Lower Yellowstone.
Montana Cooperative Development Center is crossing the State this summer on our Regional Cooperative Days Tour. Above are a few photos of our trip into Northeast and Eastern Montana. And we promise to get better at taking photos.

MCDC Director Tracy McIntyre and Program Director Davey Madison will be dedicating time throughout the summer and into the fall. The purpose is to visit cooperatives, talk to communities about the economic impact of Cooperatives and visit with folks on the opportunity of cooperatives to address community and economic needs. Working with our statewide Cooperative Development Specialist Network, we hope to be visiting each region by the end of 2021.

Next up is North Central Montana on June 21st- 25th. See the map below on where we are going!

Want us to stop in to see your cooperative or visit your community this summer? Email Davey today.
Free Printer!


MCDC has a printer that we want to give to a Montana Cooperative or a Montana non-profit. Please email Juanetta for the details but it is free to the first person who calls and makes arrangements to pick it up!
If you would like us to post your upcoming co-op events or information in the Montana Cooperative Update send event information to: tracy@mcdc.coop