Membership in the Olympic Cooperative Network is open to cooperatives, cooperative support organizations, including local economies and community-based organizations, and individuals wanting to promote cooperative culture.
Our membership donation request is $25 annually beginning in 2025. As we aim to be inclusive of everyone, especially emerging and new cooperatives, this donation is not a requirement for membership. Please see information at the bottom of this page on how to send a membership donation.
To complete a membership application, please go to https://bit.ly/OCNmembership.
Value Proposition for Olympic Cooperative Network Members
Olympic Cooperative Network’s mission is to support the development of cooperatives and cooperative culture in Clallam, Jefferson and Kitsap Counties. Our commitment to grow a cooperative network is grounded in our solidarity to nurture our communities, build economic democracy, and care for our planet.
Strong connections are key to developing a healthy cooperative ecosystem and building the capacity of network members to help each other.
Our networking relationships create opportunities for OCN participants to engage in mentoring and learning relationships and activities of reciprocal support. The network facilitates sharing of vital knowledge, information, resources, and skills, including training resources, and cooperative policy development information. An essential benefit of building our cooperative ecosystem is that patronage dollars are shared amongst cooperative members and entities and stay local within our communities.
As the network grows, a system of mutual support may emerge. Network relationships potentially lead to developing potential new activities such as the cooperative pooling of resources to address needs. These activities could include such things as shared marketing campaigns that highlight the cooperative difference, entering into cooperative agreements for bulk purchasing of goods and services at economies of scale that benefit agreement participants, and spinning off new cooperative entities to address an unmet need(s) in an industry or sector cluster.
In addition to supporting new and existing cooperatives, a network empowers us to do together what we cannot do alone. We envision a cooperative culture that grows out of our collective efforts to nurture community, build economic democracy, and care for the planet.
Co-ops are structured to serve the needs of their communities while exemplifying the power of economic democracy to build community wealth. Co-ops provide meaningful work, services and goods that might not exist otherwise, and participation in community life. Where economic democracy exists at a substantial scale, we see significantly reduced inequality and greater well-being for all, especially working people.
In keeping with our commitment to be stewards of a healthy ecosystem, OCN participants might also explore opportunities to coordinate and participate in building a system of cooperative entities that participate in regenerative economic activities. Regenerative economics moves us away from extractive business models and focuses on such methods as the re-use and regeneration of waste products, reducing waste, and eliminating exploitation of raw materials at unsustainable levels.
Your ideas for the value proposition of our network are most welcome! Join us!
Membership Payment