The roots of CooperationWorks! go back to 1989 when the National Cooperative Business Association led a coalition of 90 cooperatives and other rural organizations in ensuring that cooperative development would become a key component of federal rural development policy.
In 1990, President George H. W. Bush signed legislation authorizing grants to establish a network of rural cooperative development centers around the country. Nine years later, the centers transformed their informal network into a formal professional organization, CooperationWorks!