Cooperative Month (2009)

Cooperative Month

WHEREAS, a cooperative is an autonomous association of persons who voluntarily unite to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically controlled enterprise; and

WHEREAS, our nation’s first and oldest continually operating cooperative was organized by founding father Benjamin Franklin who formed the Philadelphia Contributionship for the Insurance of Houses from Loss by Fire; and

WHEREAS, cooperatives are based on the values of self-help, personal responsibility, democracy, equality, and solidarity, and in the tradition of their founders, cooperative members believe in the ethical values of honesty, responsibility and caring for others; and

WHEREAS, more than 30,000 cooperatives across our great Commonwealth and Nation represent more than 100 million members, and these private, not-for-profit business entities generate and contribute more than $500 billion in economic development; and

WHEREAS, cooperatives serve a vital role in nearly every sector of our economy, including farming and agriculture, housing, banking and finance, health care, energy and communications, and numerous others; and

WHEREAS, the cooperatives of Virginia have become recognized enterprises, supplying millions of its citizens with specialized goods and services, providing freedom of choice, increasing employment and contributing to the economic development, productivity and quality of life in our Commonwealth;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Timothy M. Kaine, do hereby recognize October 2009 as COOPERATIVE MONTH in the COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA, and I call this observance to the attention of all our citizens.