In the Part 1 blog post, we talked about the various definitions of cooperatives and the structural, operational and philosophical components of a cooperative business. This blog will talk about the different types of cooperatives, based on the needs of the members when the entity is formed. Cooperatives can be created that are tailor-made for the goals of the members forming the cooperative. So, when looking at this chart, think about a group of people coming together to receive services that would be harder to obtain as individuals or would be more cost effective or efficient as a group.

Type of Co-op	Services or Products	Examples/Benefits
Marketing	Co-op provides a platform or mechanism for marketing the members’ services or products.	Artists jointly own/lease gallery space and the co-op markets their art.
Producer/Supply	Co-op supplies base products/services to members who produce services or products for the co-op	Ag co-ops sell fertilizer/seed to members who sell their harvest through the co-op; platform co-op members produce code to be used by the company
Purchasing	Co-op negotiates with vendors of a specific group of members for better pricing; sometimes acts as a branding mechanism as well	Members receive rebates and discounted pricing from vendors, usually based on volume
Consumer	Co-op sells products or services to the general public	REI; telecom or rural electric
Platform	An on-line platform is created by the co-op where members buy or sell products or services.	Software developers, taxi drivers, members consolidating personal data have all used the platform co-op model
Housing	Members jointly own housing through a cooperative structure; several models of ownership, including limited equity	Membership usually means lower housing costs for members
Worker	Members of the co-op are the owners of the company.  Not all employees need be members, but generally at least 20%, preferably more	From architects and engineers to bicycle shops or childcare services have all formed co-ops; check out the list at the USFWC: https://www.usworker.coop/member-directory/
Credit Union	Banking services	Members of specific groups or communities form their own bank for their banking needs

Hybrid cooperatives are those that combine several of the above characteristics. An artists’ cooperative may be a producer and marketing company where the artists are the producers and the company markets their products for them, or provides a vehicle for their sales, such as a gallery. Generally, you will often see combined producers/supply/marketing cooperatives that provide several services to their members.

Then there are multi-stakeholder cooperatives, where the company could have different groups or classifications of members with separate needs requiring different services from the cooperative. A grocery store cooperative could have worker members and consumer members. A purchasing cooperative may have both worker members and members that are in a specific industry, utilizing their joint purchasing power for better pricing for their producers.

When thinking about forming a cooperative, groups are encouraged to carefully develop the purpose of the cooperative, its members’ individual and group needs, and both the short and long-term goals of the company. Does it want to grow its membership, or remain a small, member-owned company that meets the needs of a small group? Does it want to add groups of members in the future? Or perhaps when it expands its products or services? The “definition” of the cooperative may change over time. It may go from a strictly worker cooperative, to one that invites the community to participate and perhaps be members. Say it’s a retail store that provides classes to the public. The workers may start out as the only members in the cooperative, but decide in the future to include community members, or investors. It then becomes a multi-stakeholder worker/consumer cooperative.

So, the chart above is a list of basic definitions of the types of cooperatives that are currently in business and luckily for all of us, these definitions are flexible and malleable. The future will probably see even more types of cooperatives as the larger community understands the benefits of co-ownership on a local, state, national or international level.