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Co-op Month Background
![CIMARRON ELECTRIC trucks - and the American flag - greeted members to the cooperative’s annual meeting held in September at the Kingfisher County Fairgrounds. [KT&FP Staff Photo]](/sites/kingfisherpress.net/files/styles/large/public/f3e6e93892_Ar00902019.jpg?itok=6y0Co4Zu "CIMARRON ELECTRIC trucks - and the American flag - greeted members to the cooperative’s annual meeting held in September at the Kingfisher County Fairgrounds. [KT&FP Staff Photo]")
A bit of history on National Co-op Month from Cooperative Network:
• Minnesota was the first state to declare an official Co-op Month proclamation in 1948.
• Co-op Month has been a nationally recognized celebration since 1964, when U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Orville Freeman, a former Minnesota governor, proclaimed October Co-op Month.
• The first national theme in 1964 was “Cooperatives: USDA Helps Build a Better America.”
• The U.S. Government sponsored Co-op Month from 1964-70.
• Beginning in 1971, cooperatives, statewide associations and the National Cooperative Business Association fueled their own events and promotions.
• In 2016, a national campaign was developed by a Cooperative Network- led committee of diverse communication professionals through the Cooperative Communicators Association.