NCBA Legislative and Advocacy Update: June 4

Legislative and Advocacy Update Tuesday, June 4, 2013 • 12 - 1 pm, Eastern Join NCBA CLUSA President and CEO Mike Beall and Capitol Hill professionals as they discuss cooperative legislative matters and current issues in Washington. With Congress working on important legislation such as tax reform, the farm bill and the appropriations process, now is the time to get updated on issues that are important to you, your cooperative, and your community. During this update, learn what NCBA CLUSA is working on legislatively to advance the cooperative business model within Congress, the White House, and the federal government. Update Areas Overview of the current work in Congress and the Administration USDA Rural Cooperative Development Grant Program consolidation proposal Development legislation: “Creating Jobs Through Cooperatives Act of 2013” Food Co-op eligibility for SBA programs Credit Union legislation including the “Member Business Lending” bill Tax reform and how it affects cooperatives including credit unions FEMA housing cooperative disaster funding eligibility Moderator R.L. Condra - Vice President of Advocacy, NCBA CLUSA Panelists Mike Beall - President and CEO, NCBA CLUSA John Weinfurter - Vice President, Government Relations, Witt | O'Brien's John Harsch - Director, Government Relations, Witt | O'Brien's John McKechnie - Partner, Total Spectrum Who Should Attend Cooperative developers, representatives, and volunteers Members of community service organizations Other groups/individuals that support the co-op movement and are interested in learning about cooperative legislative matters

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About NCBA CLUSA The National Cooperative Business Association CLUSA International (NCBA CLUSA) is the national association for cooperative businesses providing cross-sector education, support and advocacy helping co-ops thrive across a variety of sectors. For nearly 100 years, our mission has been to develop, advance and protect cooperative enterprises demonstrating that cooperatives are a better business model for advancing economic and social impact. For the last 50 years, we have supported cooperative development globally through our CLUSA international program.

Advocacy 101 for Co-ops Webinar TODAY

Advocacy 101 for Co-ops Webinar Today, Tuesday, July 31, 3-4 p.m., Eastern There’s Still Time to Register! It’s not too late to attend this complimentary webinar, co-produced by the National Cooperative Business Association (NCBA) and the Campaign for Cooperation. It’s your opportunity to get: A comprehensive overview of the advocacy process Talking points for discussing co-ops with legislators Insights into the National Cooperative Development Act and its impact on jobs and the economy A Public Policy Toolkit for the 2012 International Year of Cooperatives The opportunity to interact with experts Moderated by Peter Frank, Cooperation Works!, expert panelists include R.L. Condra, NCBA; Amy Johnson, US Federation of Worker Cooperatives; Andrew McLeod, Cooperation Works! Urban Circle; Bob Noble, Philadelphia Area Cooperative Alliance; and Lisa Stolarski, NCBA. Who Should Participate? Cooperative developers, representatives and volunteers Members of community service organizations All who want to support the co-op movement

Free NCBA Webinar 4/12 on Starting a Purchasing Cooperative

Part I - Steps to Starting a Successful Purchasing Cooperative Thursday, April 12th from 2-3 pm EST Purchasing cooperatives have become an essential tool for many businesses and organizations. Purchasing cooperatives helps members improve their competitiveness, and leverage their combined purchasing volumes into savings and efficiencies. In this four-part educational track, co-op developers will learn the strategies and the development process for starting a purchasing cooperative. Part I: Introduction to Purchasing Cooperatives Why form a purchasing cooperative? What is a purchasing cooperative? Benefits of being a member-owner Traits of successful purchasing co-ops Typical member commitments Who Should Attend Cooperative developers or anyone interested in learning about purchasing cooperatives

for this FREE webinar about this four-part educational track

Have a topic suggestion for a NCBA webinar? Contact to Racquel Codling at rcodling@ncba.coop or (202) 442-2324.

The Campaign for Cooperation is On!

Fellow Cooperators,

For nearly a year, cooperative business owners and developers have been working to develop awonderful piece of legislation that will support the growth of cooperative businesses in underserved communities throughout the country. For months, many of you have been hearing about this, but recently we've been particularly quiet. That's because we've been hard at work, behind the scenes, preparing to grow our campaign to fully support the legislation when it is introduced.

I'm happy to announce today that our campaign has a home!
http://campaign.coop

our campaign has a name!
Campaign for Cooperation

and our legislation has a name!
National Cooperative Development Act of 2011

We need your support. We could spend our days calling the offices of al Members of Congress, telling them about this terrific piece of legislation, but it wouldn't be very effective. Members of Congress are not interested in hearing what people outside their districts think they should support. They want to hear from their constituents, which is YOU!

The Campaign for Cooperation will work with you and help you spread the word about the National Cooperative Development Act, and to help you talk to your Representatives about how wonderful co-ops are, and how this legislation will benefit their constituents.

We expect Rep. Fattah to introduce the National Cooperative Development Act this Fall, and the cooperative community needs to be ready to support it from day 1. We will let you know as soon as the legislation is available. While we wait for its introduction, there are a couple things you can do to help.
- Share campaign.coop with your community of co-op supporters
- Contribute to the campaign at our website (any amount helps!) - this helps us spread the word about the legislation throughout the country.
- Meet with your Member of Congress or their staff to talk to them about your co-ops, and that theNational Cooperative Development Act is coming soon, and you want them to be a co-sponsor.

You can read an interview with Rep. Fattah about the National Cooperative Development Act HERE

Thank you for your continued support!
Peter Frank
Advocacy Coordinator - Campaign for Cooperation
info@campaign.coop
215-680-9195

Ask your Rep. to attend briefing on Urban Co-ops!

Representatives Chaka Fattah (D-Penn.) and Jo Ann Emerson (R-Mo.) will hold a congressional briefing on “The Role of Cooperatives in Rural and Urban Communities,” on Mar. 29, 2011, from 2–3 p.m. in room 2362-B of the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, D.C.

This event will provide members of Congress and their staff with the opportunity to hear from practitioners, advocates and academics about the challenges facing cooperatives across all sectors of the economy and the need for federal policy to support these unique business entities.

Ask Your Representative to Attend!

Please ask your representative to attend this briefing. Click below to access a customizable message that you can send to your representative. http://www.ncba.coop/ncba/what-we-do/public-policy/calls-to-action/864-call-to-action-ask-your-representative-to-attend-co-op-briefing